Mukesh Ambani calls Lucknow 'Laxman Nagri' amid row over renaming city

As Adani's proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being discussed, India Inc has largely stayed way from openly commenting on political controversies. While Gautam Adani has previously mentioned that Rajiv Gandhi game him the first break, BJP has also hit out at non-BJP state governments who gave ports and land to his firm. Amidst the turbulence, another tycoon Mukesh Ambani may have stepped into a political storm, by calling Lucknow 'Laxman ki Nagri'.

Timing could raise eyebrows

The comment may not be political but it comes at a time when a BJP MP has demanded that Lucknow should be remaned as Laxmanpur or Lakhanpur. BJP's Sangam Lal Gupta has written to the Home Minister Amit Shah that Lucknow was originally Laxmanpur before the 18th century, when Mughals changed its name. At the same time SBSP leader Om Prakash Rajbhar has also raised a demand to rename Ghazipur and Bahraich.

Controversy to overshadow progress?

Ambani was in the capital of Uttar Pradesh to announced a Rs 75,000 crore investment for generating one lakh jobs. During the Global Investors Summit, he also announced a rollout of 5G services to every village in the state by 2024. In addition to the telecom push, Reliance Industries will also set up 10GW renewable power generation capacity in the state.