New Delhi:
Taped conversations of politician Amar Singh, his critics say, suggest a disturbing nexus between politicians and corporates. NDTV cannot verify the authenticity of the tapes that are now in the public domain. Amar Singh has told NDTV that he doubles up as an industrialist and a politician, and that the conversations that may seem inappropriate are in fact informal chats between parties that did business together. He stressed that as an industrialist, he was entitled to pursue business interests, and that he did not influence government decisions despite his considerable political stature in the Samajwadi Party.
(Watch: Amar Singh denies charges)For a period of two months (December 2005-January 2006) ,Amar Singh's phone was tapped. At the time, Amar Singh was the second-in-command of the Samajwadi Party which was in power in Uttar Pradesh with Mulayam Singh Yadav as Chief Minister.
Amar Singh objected in the Supreme Court to his phone being tapped; he blamed Reliance Infocom and the Congress party of illegally tapping his phone. In February 2006, the court banned the media from reporting the contents of the tapes. That ban was lifted by the court yesterday. Amar Singh withdrew his complaint against the Congress earlier this year.
AMAR SINGH TALKS TO ANIL AMBANI
In this conversation, Amar Singh is heard speaking to industrialist Anil Ambani.
Amar Singh: No one is in anyone's pocket, except for me in yours and you in mine
Anil Ambani: Yes...
hum aapke hain kaun Amar Singh: Hmm...
Anil Ambani: OK boss, Vinay and Nahata came this morning
Amar Singh: Yes
Anil Ambani: They will get orders worth about 500-800-1000 crores?
Amar Singh: Yes, yes
Anil Ambani: So I have said that without Amar Singh's blessings and approval, you will get nothing
Amar Singh: Yes, yes, very kind of you
Anil Ambani: So, we are meeting today?
Amar Singh: Alright
Anil Ambani: Sir shall I give it to them, after all they are our friends?
Amar Singh: Definitely
Anil Ambani: But first you take your aarti..
Amar Singh: Yes, yes, I'll take the arti, they know that I am the defacto boss/owner of Reliance
Anil Ambani: You can say you are the boss of Anil Ambani
Amar Singh: Oh, as you are younger than me... so all your maal (assets) is mine..
Anil Ambani: Yes, no problem, but this is between you and me only
Amar Singh: Yes
Anil Ambani: Two and a half... 125 million or so.. it's a 700-800 cr order
Amar Singh: 700-800 crores? But what's the income?
Anil Ambani: In this you will earn....
Amar Singh: 70-80 crores?
Anil Ambani: No, 20-25 crores
Amar Singh: Oh that much