RADIA GATE - BIO V

Lost Kingdom: Post-resignation, his former officials are ‘singing’. (Photograph by Tribhuvan Tiwari)

After the BJP went out of power in 2004, Radia needed to make new political friends. And as the 2G scam tapes reveal, she seems to have done a pretty good job of it. Her closeness to the DMK’s A. Raja—the man at the heart of the largest scam ever in India—is believed to have begun in 2006, when Raja was the environment minister. Since Tata Teleservices was a key client for Radia, this relationship paid off when Raja became the telecom minister in 2007. Now that Raja has resigned, many are speaking out about his role in the ministry. As a top serving bureaucrat observes, on the first day that A. Raja took charge as telecom minister, he received a sizeable “first instalment”. Taken by surprise, Raja is reported to have dashed off to Chennai the same evening to present it to the DMK bosses, who were left wondering why Raja’s predecessor had not similarly relayed earlier instalments, if any.

Common Foe? Tata told Mukesh Ambani to hire Radia for PR. (Photograph by Narendra Bisht)

Ratan Tata had, in a hand-written letter to Tamil Nadu CM M. Karunanidhi in December 2007, reportedly praised Raja’s “rational, fair and action-oriented” leadership. As a no-holds-barred corporate battle lies at the heart of the scramble for scarce spectrum, the Tata Group’s proximity to the telecom minister put it head to head against Airtel’s Sunil Mittal, who was unhappy with Raja in the seat. The stakes became bigger when Radia brokered Mukesh Ambani’s open support for Tata in the Singur controversy. By getting the PR mandate for Mukesh Ambani’s business empire in 2008, she would have found herself in the hit-list of Anil Ambani, who is also Tata’s competitor in telecom. It is believed that Ratan Tata told Mukesh Ambani to take on Radia as a client (it is reported that these two of India’s largest corporate groups pay Rs 30 crore per annum each for Radia’s services). Given that the Ambani brothers’ fight was still raging, it was a natural alignment—both the Tatas and Mukesh had a common enemy.