Kejriwal takes on Ambani, says gas prices hiked to benefit RIL

NEW DELHI: India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwaltoday publicly levelled charges of a shady nexus between Congress,BJP and Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).

Kejriwal alleged that RIL kept oil production low 'to blackmail the government' and also charged that the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party were 'in Mukesh Ambani's pocket' as huge benefits were given to RIL despite violation in contracts.

Jaipal Reddy was removed as petroleum minister for refusing a proposal of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries to hike the charges of the gas it was supplying to state-owned power plants, India Against Corruption member Arvind Kejriwal charged Wednesday, demanding that the Krishna Godavari basin allotted to the company be cancelled.

"Mukesh Ambani is running the country it seems... Jaipal Reddy was removed as he refused to hike the charges being levied by Reliance Industries to supply gas to NTPC," Kejriwal said at a press conference.

He said the government looked helpless before the corporate group.

According to Kejriwal, the KG basin was awarded to Reliance in 2000 by the NDA government when the corporate agreed to supply gas to the National Thermal Power Corp for the next 17 years at $2.5 per unit.

But, said Kejriwal, the company revised the rate to $4.25 per unit in 2007 which then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee agreed to as the head of an empowered group of ministers.

The IAC activist also alleged that the hike in gas prices will benefit RIL by Rs 43,000 crore and such perks doled out will lead to price rise in the country.

Kejriwal further said that the RIL gas deal was signed by the NDA government and implemented by UPA govenment.

Kejriwal had earlier targetted Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, DLF's land deals in Haryana, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari in the Maharashtra irrigation scam and Salman Khurshid for his NGO's functions in Uttar Pradesh.

On Tuesday, BJP mouthpiece Kamal Sandesh asked the Union government to investigate the possible foreign funding of Kejriwal. Ironically, this happened at a time when Congress mouthpiece Congress Sandesh also attacked Kejriwal for "hit-and-run" tactics without naming him.

"The main game of Kejriwal may be related to funding. We should know if the funds belong to India or the forces which want to weaken the country. The government should find out who has given the 'supari' to Kejriwal," the Kamal Sandesh edit says. However, the sharply-worded edit in the latest issue of Kamal Sandesh does not substantiate the charges made.

Kejriwal hit back at the BJP: "They have said we are being foreign funded. The list of all donors to this movement is on our website. I challenge the BJP. If the BJP has the guts and courage, let it put the list of all the donors to the party in the last 10 years."

The Congress also attacked Kejriwal in its mouthpiece without naming him. "We have seen the self-appointed guardians of morality and probity in public life. Their hit-and-run approach to the so-called scams has proved beyond doubt that they crave just for media attention."

Mukesh Ambani rejects Kejriwal's allegation of corruption

 Reliance Industries, controlled by Mukesh Ambani, India's richest person, has said in a statement that theallegations made by anti-graft crusader Arvind Kejriwal are "devoid of any truth or substance whatsoever".

"Irresponsible allegations made by IAC at the behest of vested interests without basic understanding of the complexities of a (Krishna-Godavari Basin) project of this nature do not merit a response," Reliance said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The allegations made front page news in all the leading English and vernacular national dailies of the country.

Kejriwal's allegations were unlikely to have a long-term impact onReliance shares, analysts said, but the this latest expose did impact the groups shares, as it was evident when the market opened in Mumbai on Thursday.

"From yesterday's closing price, Reliance industries have come down by, as I am talking to you, 10 rupees ($0.18), which is 1.25 percent down from yesterday's closing. Obviously theirs slight cautiousness in the market, investors are cautious and after the media briefing of Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, where he alleged a nexus between the group and the politicians. So maybe at this point of time the reason is that the investors may feel some nervousness and that's the reason it is down by 1.25 percent," said Sunil Shah, a market expert.

Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Asia's second-richest man, had clashed with the former oil minister Jaipal Reddy over gas output at the conglomerate's KG-D6 block on Andhra coast.

While Reliance has long been perceived by many Indians as politically influential, investors say the firm's relationship with New Delhi has recently been fractious as a result of the performance of its flagship gas project on the east coast.

Reliance and its partner BP Plc have blamed technical problems for falling gas production, and have sought permission to charge higher prices to cover spending, but the government has so far refused to approve higher gas fees.

Arvind Kejriwal set for another expose today, target yet to be known

Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwalis reportedly all set to for another 'expose' on Friday, the fourth byIndia Against Corruption (IAC).

However, it is not clear as to who his latest target will be.

In his last expose on October 31, Kejriwal termed RIL's D-6 block in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin deal as a "classic case of crony capitalism" and said both the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance(NDA) and Congress-led UPA governments were responsible.

Asserting that the government is succumbing to illegitimate demands of Reliance Industries, Kejriwal said that Mukesh Ambani is running the country and not Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

"Who is running the country? It seems that Ambani is running the country," said Kejriwal, pointing out the silence of Dr. Singh.

He demanded that Reliance should be stopped from exploiting national wealth and an end should be put to "crony capitalism".

Kejriwal had earlier targeted Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra"s land deals, the then Law Minister and present External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid of allegedly misusing funds allotted to his NGO and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Nitin Gadkari in the Maharashtra irrigation scam. 

Kejriwal now targets alleged Swiss bank account holders

 Activist-turned-politician Arvind KejriwalFriday alleged that brothers Mukhesh and Anil Ambani and Congress MP Annu Tandon, among others, have crores of rupees deposited in banks in Switzerland.

He said this was based on a list of 10 account holders in HSBC bank in Geneva that was passed on to him by a senior Congress leader that was later cross-checked by a team of his India Against Corruption(IAC) organisation.

"In July 2011, the Indian Government received a list of roughly 700 people having bank accounts in HSBC, Geneva. The list contains bank balances of these people in 2006. These names are also part of the list," said Kejriwal during a press conference here.

The list named the Ambani brothers as having Rs.100 crore each, Congress Unnao MP Tandon of having Rs.125 crore, including another Rs.125 crore in name of her deceased husband Sandeep Tandon and Jet Airways chairman Naresh Kumar Goyal of having Rs.80 crore.

Three brothers who own Dabur have Rs.25 crores in Swiss banks, while Yashovardhan Birla andKokila Dhirubhai Ambani have accounts with zero balance, Kejriwal alleged in the conference, also adressed by his associate Prashant Bhushan.

"Our sources told us Mukhesh Ambani had come to the finance ministry when the list of 700 Swiss account holders were provided to India. He told the finance ministry 'we are prepared to pay the tax to buy peace and no raids should be conducted'," said Kejriwal.

According to Kejriwal, the present CBI director once said more than Rs.25,00,000 crore of ill-gotten Indian money was stashed abroad while the Indian government said that an amount of Rs.6,000 crore is deposited in Swiss banks.

He said even as black money was a big threat to India's economic sovereignty, the union government was trying to shield its perpetrators. "Indian government seems to be more interested in helping the guilty rather than punishing them."

Kejriwal said the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had even planned an amnesty for all the 700 Swiss account holders. He also demanded strict action against HSBC bank for encouraging kidnapping, corruption and terrorism in the country.

"Like America, we should enact a law that makes it mandatory for foreign banks operating in the country to furnish a list of all account holders to the income tax department," he said, asking the thousands of HSBC bank employees to quit their jobs

Rudy demands PM's answer on Kejriwal's expose on 'black money'

 With Arvind Kejriwal targetting the issue ofblack money and claiming to have a list of 700 Indians who have accounts in HSBC's branch in Geneva, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Friday asked Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh to come forth with a befitting reply to all the charges levelled by the India Against Corruption (IAC) chief.

"The government must come forth and the Prime Minister must personally answer who is responsible, what Kejriwal is saying is it the truth; if there is a truth then has there been a failure on part of the government or is the government a part of the whole system in saying that such institutions which are playing fraud with the country they survive in this country," said Rudy.

"So, there are large questions being raised and I am sure the Prime Minister himself will answer because the question of black money is linked to the Prime Minister. The question of black money is now linked to money laundering and all these deserve an answer from theCongress Party and mainly an economist Prime Minister," he added.

Rudy, who is also the spokesperson of the BJP, said the charges that have been levelled by Kejriwal were a matter of deep concern.

"The charges, which have been levelled by Kejriwal, this is not just about money laundering; this is also about black money, which has been stashed in Swiss Banks. The BJP has been charging the government that lakhs of crores of rupees is stashed in Swiss Banks and other European banks and that needs to be brought back. The Prime Minister of this country did say one that after he took charge of UPA-II that he is going to get back the black money. It's almost three and a half years, not a single rupee has come back," said Rudy.

"Even there was a White Paper published by the government, which absolutely was rather a Black Paper by the government. Today again when the charges against HSBC of doing money laundering and he has mentioned the names of several individuals, including Congress politicians; one doesn't actually whose names are there and whose names are not, we are not the right people to comment on it. But all these charges deserve investigation," he added.

Kejriwal on Friday raked up the issue of black money and alleged that the government was incapable to stop the practice. .

Claiming to have a list of 700 Indians having accounts in HSBC's branch in Geneva, Kejriwal said that a senior Congress leader had provided the information to enable the 'expose' by the Indian Against Corruption (IAC).

Kejriwal said both the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have joined hands to spread corruption.

"Government doesn't want to bring back black money stashed in Swiss banks abroad. The government has a list of 700 people having accounts in Swiss banks," he said.

Kejriwal claimed that Mukesh Ambani has Rs. 100 crores, Anil Ambani has Rs. 100 crores, Sandeep Tandon - former IRS, ED official - who raided Reliance has Rs. 125 crores, Reliance Industries Rs. 200 crores, Sandeep Tandon's wife Anu, who is now Congress MP from Unnao, has Rs. 125 crores, Motech Software Private Ltd (Reliance Group company) - Rs. 2,100 crores, Kokila Dhirubhai Ambani has an account but in December 2006 it had no balance, Naresh Goyal has Rs. 80 crores.

He further claimed that three members from Dabur have accounts totalling Rs. 25 crores.

"Yashovardhan Birla has an account, but in December 2006 it has no balance. CBI had said there is Rs. 25 lakh crores - these 700 names account for only Rs. 6000 crores," he said.

Kejriwal, who parted ways with Anna Hazare, also alleged that the UPA Government-led by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has turned out to be the biggest economic threat to India.

Kejriwal has so far targetted Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, BJP President Nitin Gadkari and the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance group. 

Kejriwal exposes list of black money holders, alleges 'Govt. inability'

 Continuing the revelations of wrongdoings by prominent people, activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal on Friday raked up the issue of black money and alleged that the government was incapable to stop the practice. .

Claiming to have a list of 700 Indians having accounts in HSBC's branch in Geneva, Kejriwal said that a senior Congress leader had provided the information to enable the 'expose' by the Indian Against Corruption (IAC).

Kejriwal said both the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) have joined hands to spread corruption.

"Government doesn't want to bring back black money stashed in Swiss banks abroad. The government has a list of 700 people having accounts in Swiss banks," he said.

Kejriwal claimed that Mukesh Ambani has Rs. 100 crores, Anil Ambani has Rs. 100 crores, Sandeep Tandon - former IRS, ED official - who raided Reliance has Rs. 125 crores, Reliance Industries Rs. 200 crores, Sandeep Tandon's wife Anu, who is now Congress MP from Unnao, has Rs. 125 crores, Motech Software Private Ltd (Reliance Group company) - Rs. 2,100 crores, Kokila Dhirubhai Ambani has an account but in December 2006 it had no balance, Naresh Goyal has Rs. 80 crores.

He further claimed that three members from Dabur have accounts totalling Rs. 25 crores.

"Yashovardhan Birla has an account, but in December 2006 it has no balance. CBI had said there is Rs. 25 lakh crores - these 700 names account for only Rs. 6000 crores," he said.

Kejriwal, who parted ways with Anna Hazare, also alleged that the UPA Government-led by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has turned out to be the biggest economic threat to India.

Kejriwal has so far targetted President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, BJP President Nitin Gadkari and the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance group. 

Kejriwal's latest expose: Hawala money in Swiss accounts

Arvind Kejriwal is out with his latest revelation. This time it is not directly targetted at any politician. Rather his target are the country's best-known businessmen and the Black money stashed in their Swiss accounts. According to Kejriwal, HSBC's Geneva branch has 700 accounts of Indian nationals.

Kejriwal claims that he has accessed a CD which has names of the businessmen with hawala money. Those on the list are:

Mukesh Ambani and his brother Anil both have Rs 100 crore each in their accounts. Their mother Kokilaben also has an account but no balance.Yash Birla too has an account without any money. Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal has Rs. 80 crores while three members of the Dabur family have Rs 25 crores.

Kejriwal demaned a raid on these businessmen and their statements to be recorded. He challenged the businessmen to reveal their bank statements. He even demanded that an honest officer be in charge of the operation.

Kejriwal even accused the President of trying to protect these 700 people by introducing an amnesty scheme.

Kejriwal has demanded that the head of HSBC be arrested, suspend all HSBC banks operating in India and force them to reveal details of account holders. He appealed to the Indians working in HSBC to quit their jobs if the bank doesn't reveal the names of the 700 people.

Before signing off, the India Against Corruption activist said money goes out of the country through HSBC and the same money is pumped back into the country in the name of FII. He said most of the money that comes as foreign investment is actually black money.