Nalin Verma 
When Lalu Prasad Yadav with his wife Rabri Devi, daughter Misa Bharati, son Tejashwi Yadav and daughter-in-law Rajshree Yadav flew off in a chartered plane from Patna to Mumbai to attend the wedding of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant on Friday (July 12), political circles were taken by surprise.
“Does Lalu enjoy a family relationship with the Ambanis? Why have the Ambanis attached so much importance to Lalu – a diehard opponent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is ruling the country? Will the Ambanis giving too much importance to Lalu annoy Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is being attacked by the opposition for ‘favouring’ Adani and the Ambanis?”, asked a top BJP leader under the cover of anonymity.
Tejashwi Yadav, ahead of boarding the flight, told reporters: “We have got an invitation to attend the wedding ceremony from Mukesh Ambani … we are going for that purpose.”
He did not elaborate, and his laconic explanation failed to satisfy curious politicians and people.
In fact, the unpublished part of Gopalganj to Raisina: My Political Journey – Lalu’s memoir co-authored with this writer – throws light on the old and loving relationship that the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) boss shared with Dhirubhai Ambani, father of Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, and grandfather of Anant Ambani.
An excerpt from the unpublished part:
“The railway minister in the V.P. Singh government, George Fernandes, was very friendly to newspaper baron Ramnath Goenka and journalist Prabhas Joshi. The trio was after the Reliance Industry’s owner, Dhirubhai Ambani.
George Fernandes didn’t like me. I could not figure out why he disliked me but developed a soft corner for Dhirubhai Ambani being targeted by George. It was because I had heard about Dhirubhai’s rags-to-riches saga. In a chance encounter, Dhirubhai had told me how he had worked at a fuel-filling station and how painstakingly he was working to build a business with tremendous potential to generate employment.
[Being] a person belonging to a struggling background, I developed sympathy for Dhirubhai Ambani. I objected to the designs of Goenka, Joshi and Fernandes that targeted Dhirubhai.
In a private meeting, I asked Fernandes – a senior leader of our party – why he was targeting Dhirubhai Ambani, who had built his business brick-by-brick by working as a fuel-filler at fuel stations and selling spices. I told him that Goenka was a newspaper baron and Joshi was a journalist working for Goenka’s enterprise. They might have their own axe to grind against Dhirubhai.
“Why should we as political leaders side with Goenka and Prabhas Joshi against Dhirubhai?” I asked Fernandes. Fernandes didn’t give me a clear answer, but kept on his tirade against Dhirubhai.
BJP president L.K. Advani too silently backed Fernandes and Goenka in their tirade against Dhirubhai.
After I got Advani arrested (in 1990), Dhirubhai Ambani celebrated Diwali at his Mumbai home and invited me. Dhirubhai introduced to me to his wife, Kokilaben, and sons Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, who were still young. Dhirubhai described me as the “great friend” of his family to his wife and sons.
Though Dhirubhai kept calling me time to time, I never found time to meet him after that. Mukesh and Anil have great regard for me and I too have affection for them, but we seldom meet. It is an emotional relationship that we have shared over the years without making any noise.”
Lalu upset
This portion was part of the sixth chapter of Gopalganj to Raisina under the sub-heading ‘Diwali at Dhirubhai Ambani’s House’ in the final manuscript that as the co-author of the book, I approved and emailed to Rupa Publications in March 2019 (The original copy is available with me).
However, this chapter was missing when the book finally hit the stands in April 2019. Lalu, who had shared Dhirubhai Ambani’s story with me with great interest, was hugely upset to find it missing and asked me about it.
I contacted the publisher, who said he was not aware of how it was omitted. “The copyeditor … might have goofed up, I have no idea,” Rupa publisher Kapish G. Mehra told me.
As a young chief minister in the 1990s at war with the Sangh parivar, Lalu was strongly opposed to the Swadeshi Jagran Manch – a wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – that targeted Dhirubhai Ambani, who was believed to be close to the Nehru-Gandhi family at that stage of history.
Temperamentally, Lalu was fascinated by all those – be it politicians or entrepreneurs – who were known for their “rags to riches” story.
Whatever be the equations between Lalu and Dhirubhai, it is a fact that Mukesh Ambani is a top business tycoon of India. And that Lalu, convicted in multiple cases for the fodder scam, is out of power. His RJD performed below expectations in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls in Bihar.
Still, the wedding invitation from the Ambanis to Lalu and his family members suggests some sort of bonhomie between a grassroots leader known for his earthy ways and the top honcho from India’s industrial firmament.
Nalin Verma is a senior journalist, author, media educator and independent researcher in folklore.