Daijiworld Media Network
Mumbai, Apr 18: In a major development, Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani backing Milind Deora the Congress candidate from South Mumbai, has left political analysts wondering if India’s major business tycoon is trying to appease the grand old party.
In a 2.17 minute long video tweeted by Deora from his Twitter handle, Ambani can be heard saying, "Milind is the man for South Bombay. Having represented South Bombay for 10 years, I believe Milind has in-depth knowledge of the social, economic and cultural ecosystem of the South Bombay constituency."
Mukesh, who is not known to endorse a political candidate publicly, now seems to be favouring Deora. The unexpected support, especially at a time when AICC president Rahul Gandhi has launched an attack on Mukesh’s younger brother Anil Ambani over the Rafale deal, has raised eyebrows.
Mukesh’s endorsement has seemingly pinched the BJP and is evident in reactions on Twitter. BlueKraft founder Akhilesh Mishra who is a BJP proponent lashed out at Ambani. "Is this first instance of an industrialist of scale of Mukesh Ambani openly seeking votes for a political party, in this case Rahul Gandhi's Congress? Also, if Mr. Ambani, after weighing the optics, has still chosen to come out in open for Congress, what has been doing from behind? (sic)" Mishra tweeted.
Meanwhile, others have taken Ambani’s support to Congress as a hint indicating the direction the political wind is blowing.
Some analysts have reasoned an alternate explanation for Ambani’s support. The late Dhirubhai Ambani was close to Milind's late father Murli Deora who headed the city Congress unit for decades. They zero-down that the close family ties could be a reason Ambani is being vocal about his support.
The video also features Uday Kotak, managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank. "Milind truly represents 'Mumbai ka connection'. I genuinely believe Milind understands and relates to Mumbai for a long time," Kotak is heard saying.