In his third such expose, activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday took on business moghul Mukesh Ambani for “blackmailing” the government to hike the price of gas bought from the industrialist’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
The India Against Corruption crusader also accused the BJP and Congress of colluding with Ambani to maximise his profits.
This expose comes close on the heels of the activist’s allegations that Jaipal Reddy was moved out of the Petroleum Ministry at the behest of the elder Ambani brother as the minister had tried to resist the escalation of gas cost by RIL and was seeking to penalise the company for willfully reducing the production in the D-6 oil fields in Krishna-Godavari basin off the coast of Andhra Pradesh.
“It seems that Mukesh Ambani and not Manmohan Singh is running this country,” Kejriwal said in a scathing attack. Demanding the cancellation of the oil extraction contract of Krishna-Godavari basin to RIL, Kejriwal alleged that a nexus of businessmen, politicians and bureaucrats was seeking to loot the country of its natural resources.
He further went on to say that no matter which party comes to power, it is Mukesh Ambani who calls the shots as both the Congress and the BJP “were in his pocket”. As per the IAC activist’s allegations, the original “sweetheart” deal between RIL and the BJP-led NDA government was signed in 2000 and was later “faithfully” implemented by the Congress government. However, RIL in an official statement dismissed the allegations as “devoid of substance”.