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I was for drastic reforms in all sections of administration/governance and business/industry, and I had a voice in New Delhi, though not a member of any political party or any State apparatus. (I had declined to be a Member of the Rajya Sabha, disappointing Atal Behari Vajpayee, then the Leader of the Opposition; I had declined to become a member of the BJP and simultaneously a member of their National Executive, disappointing L.K. Advani, a friend, and then the Party president. I had declined to accept official positions, disappointing many). Mine was the voice of a concerned citizen, independent, passionate, articulate and fearless; that made it powerful, compelling. Corruptors and beneficiaries of corruption were alarmed; they wanted to fix me. Not easy: I was doing no wrong.

Dhirubhai Ambani and sons desperately wanted to fix me. From the early eighties, I had realised that the Ambanis were the biggest corrupters of most politicians and key bureaucrats in Delhi, and I sensed they posed a grave threat to the security of India; in the event, I was determined not to let them have L&T, no matter how many silver coins the Judases in Delhi had collected on account, how long and hard I had to fight, ( I had crucial support from interested friends). Those days the big story was the grabbing of L&T by the avaricious Ambanis: Dhirubhai had become the Chairman of L&T, 2 sons and a loyal camp-follower directors ( 4-Directors on the L&T Board for a holding of just about 7% of the equity in the company: an example of how the will of the Ambanis prevailed, and how subservient to the Ambani interests the government apparatus at various levels was! At this stage, a process was on to get the Government of India to sanctify the grab. A debate on Reliance in the Lok Sabha highlighted how deeply Delhi was involved. I quote from Business India of September 30-October 13, 1991 to give readers an idea of the events which were to later unfold. In an account titled, "Ambani-L&T: The cakewalk that wasn't", the business magazine gave a blow by blow account, substantially correct, of what happened in New Delhi in that eventful August of 1991: "August 21: R. V. Pandit...meets Manmohan Singh. The discussion is about the BJP's views on the economy. During the course of the conversation Pandit brings up the L&T issue. The minister tells him that the matter will be decided on the basis of merit, but does not reveal the government's stand on it. Obviously, the minister was under tremendous pressure to lay off the Ambanis, from not only the events in Parliament but also ministerial colleagues and bureaucrats in his ministry. August 22: R. V. Pandit, realising what was going to happen....write(s) an article, 'The Ambanis, L&T and the security of India' on the front pages of the papers (all editions of Indian Express, Financial Express, and the group's language papers across India) the next day. It was viewed as the voice of the BJP and virtually sealed the fate of the L&T case. (I will return to L&T and to the Ambanis, later. As to the Business India report, I never spoke to them or any other newsman on this issue, and I believe neither did the then Finance Minister. But conjectures above about dates and events are correct).