The Hindu : National : Government should intervene in Reliance battle: CPI leader

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 10, 2004

National

National

Government should intervene in Reliance battle: CPI leader

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 9. The Communist Party of India (CPI) leader, Gurudas Dasgupta, today sought the Government's intervention in the ongoing rivalry in the Reliance Industries Limited as it reflected badly on India and would affect the in-flow of foreign direct investment. It had already impacted the stock market and small investors, he pointed out.

Briefing mediapersons here, Mr. Dasgupta said the differences between the chairman of RIL, Mukesh Ambani, and its vice-chairman, Anil Ambani, was not private battle but a ``corporate warfare.'' ``It is affecting the economy and vitiating the corporate culture of the country. "If their feud continues, the Finance Minister may find that the FDI flow is coming down." he said.

Taking a dig at the political patrons of the Reliance Industries, he said: "One brother meets someone in Delhi and the other goes to Uttar Pradesh. Without such patronage, they would not have made such a meteoric rise. Whether their patrons will help them through this battle is a different matter, but the Government should intervene as their business is based on people's money."

Mr. Dasgupta also demanded better coordination and frequent consultations between the partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in Parliament. Asked whether this indicated a breakdown in the Left-UPA relations, he said: "In a coalition of dissimilar parties, there are bound to be irritants but unity will prevail."

Portion of POTA

Earlier, the CPI leader in the Lok Sabha, P. K. Vasudevan Nair, expressed his party's unhappiness over the manner in which The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill — which replaces the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) — was pushed through by the Government "without consulting the partners of UPA, particularly the Left parties, even rejecting the suggestion of referring the Bill to the standing committee for a limited period of time."

The CPI's contention is that a "portion of POTA has been smuggled into the new legislation." The CPI has also demanded introduction of legislation guaranteeing 100 days employment to one member of a family in this session itself.

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