On the 4th of November 2021, a Mid-day newspaper published an “exclusive” claiming that Mukesh Ambani, along with his family, was all set to move out of India and settle down in London. According to the report, Ambanis were to make a 300-acre country club in Buckinghamshire, Stoke Park — acquired at a reported Rs 592 crore earlier this year, as their ‘primary home’.
Mid-Day reported, “Sources told mid-day that even a state-of-the-art medical facility has recently been set up in the property, adding that the experience of spending the pandemic in the 4,00,000 square feet Altamount Road residence, Antilia, made the family feel the need for a second home”.
The report further claimed that the property had a fully functional hospital, a mandir for which the Ambanis are set to take two priests to London from Mumbai and 40 bedrooms. The mid-day report also quoted “doctors who were hired to be a part of the medical team”, saying that the Ambanis had decided to make a hospital inside their property premises since the UK healthcare system is largely public-funded and in India, private hospitals are preferred.
A day after this report was published in Mid-day and picked up by several other newspapers, Reliance issued a statement rubbishing the claims made by the media report.
The statement read, “Reliance Industries Limited will like to clarify that the Chairman and his family have no plans whatsoever to relocate or reside in London or anywhere else in the world. RIL group company, RIIHL, which acquired Stoke Park estate recently, would like to clarify that its acquisition of the heritage property is aimed at enhancing this as a premier golfing & sporting resort, while fully complying with the planning guidelines & local regulations. This acquisition will add to the fast-growing consumer business of the group. Simultaneously, it will also expand the footprint of India’s famed hospitality industry globally”.
How the fake media report about Mukesh Ambani and his family moving to London was used by trolls to target the Modi government
As soon as Mid-Day floated the fake news about Mukesh Ambani and his family moving to London, several media houses picked up the news. As the fake news spread, trolls and Congress functionaries started to use the news to target the Narendra Modi government.
Prashant Bhushan, veteran troll, full-time PIL-ist and career trouble-maker had taken to Twitter to further the fake news.
Bye bye India! Namaste London! Another Bhagora? pic.twitter.com/XqFmP1MZOF
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) November 5, 2021
Quoting the media report, Prashant Bhushan asked if Mukesh Ambani was another “bhagoda”. This was a way to target Amit Shah because he was exiled from Gujarat for 2 years while a fake case against him was being investigated after the Sohrabbudin Sheikh encounter. He was discharged later and all charges were proven fake. The Judge had said that the case against him was purely politically motivated, however, Prashant Bhushan, in his infinite hate, used the pejorative word to insult Amit Shah by using the fake news against Mukesh Ambani.
National Digital Media and Social Media coordinator of Congress, Gaurav Pandhi, also took to Twitter to target the Modi government using the fake news.
The situation in India under the BJP Govt is so bad, that Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani and his family are moving to London.
— Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) November 4, 2021
This dividing time between India & London is BS.
The hatred spread by BJP-RSS, vindictive politics & misuse of institutions is eating everyone up!
He claimed that the situation in India under the Modi government was “so bad” that even Asia’s richest man and his family were moving to London. He spoke about the mythical hate spread by BJP-RSS as a possible reason. Not only was this news fake, but Pandhi implied strange logic to target the Modi government. Congress, under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, has constantly claimed that PM Modi is an “agent” of Mukesh Ambani and has been working for his benefit. After Rahul Gandhi has spent 7 years screaming this trope, Congress was now claiming that Mukesh Ambani was leaving India because of PM Modi. The impeccable logic that is the hallmark of Congress was evident, even in this case.
In fact, Amnesty troll Aakar Patel went on to claim that Mukesh Ambani had not denied the story while plugging the story that carried Reliance’s denial.
hasn’t denied the story.
— Aakar Patel (@Aakar__Patel) November 5, 2021
ignore the noise. see details. https://t.co/MQKstJD8nL
While he urged his readers to “focus on the details”, it would appear that such tropes are being furthered by trolls to create confusion and ensure that the facts are muddled so they can continue to target the Modi government over the fake news spread by the media.
