Mukesh and Nita Ambani were joined by son Anant Ambani when they attended the swearing-in ceremony of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday. The newly-elected chief minister welcomed their most important guests on the stage. The Ambanis sat next to the former chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, as Thackeray made history by taking the oath to lead the alliance government of the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress.
The Ambanis had a special connection to Thursday’s gathering. Aside from Uddhav Thackeray becoming the first member of the Thackeray clan to lead the government, his son Aaditya Thackeray recently became the first from the family to win an election. He was elected from Mumbai’s Worli assembly seat. Worli, a prominent place in south Mumbai, is also where Mukesh and Nita Ambani’s daughter Isha Ambani reside. Her 50,000 sq ft sprawling bungalow, Gulita, was gifted to her by her in-laws as a wedding gift. The bungalow is believed to be valued at Rs 450 crore.
Mukesh and Nita Ambani’s official resident, Antilia, too is not far. So, in a way, Asia’s richest family members are also the prominent constituents of Aaditya Thackeray’s constituency and had a special reason to attend yesterday’s function.
Despite being a voter in Worli, Isha Ambani decided to skip the swearing-in ceremony. Also giving a miss to the political event were Nita’s daughter-in-law Shloka Mehta and another son Akash.
Interestingly, Uddhav Thackeray and family had attended Mukesh Ambani’s Ganesh Chaturthi bash in September this year.
After weeks of uncertainty, Uddhav Thackeray finally managed to stitch an alliance with the NCP and the Congress as he took the oath of office with a select group of new ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had congratulated him on Twitter. His tweet had read, “Congratulations to Uddhav Thackeray Ji on taking oath as the CM of Maharashtra. I am confident he will work diligently for the bright future of Maharashtra.”
Among the new ministers taking the oath of office were Eknath Shinde, Subhash Desai, Jayant Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal and Balasaheb Thorat.