Shourie’s 180-degree Turn With Dhirubhai

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Jul 07 2003, 00:00 IST

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Though almost every politician of any consequence knew Dhirubhai Ambani well, few had the courage to admit it publicly. But a year after his death, on a rain-swept day in Mumbai, it was time for some of India’s top politicians to acknowledge the enormous influence and contribution of the late Reliance group patriarch. The occasion: the first Dhirubhai Ambani Memorial Lecture, delivered by APJ Abdul Kalam, the President of India.

But the spotlight was clearly on Arun Shourie, former firebrand journalist and now iconic minister for disinvestment, communication and information technology in the Vajpayee government. Clearly not your typical “politician- minister”, Mr Shourie recalled how his “acquaintance with Dhirubhai went through an almost 180-degree turn over the years.”

Mr Shourie’s brief but brilliant speech, peppered with anecdotes, came even as top political bosses of all hues and affiliations — from Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to former finance minister Manmohan Singh to Digvijay Singh to Mulayam Singh, Maharashtra chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal — paid tribute to the spirit of Dhirubhai Ambani, with most of them candidly acknowledging the close relationship they shared with the man.

Said Mr Shourie: “I first learnt about him through the articles of my colleague S Gurumurthy. The point of most of the articles was that Reliance had done something in excess of what had been licensed, it was producing in excess of that capacity.” And then, he explained how times had changed: “Most would say today that those restrictions and conditions

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