Roy: Parade for Pariwar

Lucknow, June 8: Subrata Roy Sahara is poised to show his face to the world, at least briefly, but the mystery behind his long absence may not go away altogether.

The Sahara Pariwar chief will attend a function here on June 10, his 58th birthday, to reassure employees and investors that he is in control of his Rs 40,000-crore business empire. But he is unlikely to take any questions.

“He is expected to address the audience (at the felicitation function organised by Sahara Group employees) and the electronic media will be allowed to telecast it across the world,” a Sahara Pariwar official said.

“It will not be a press conference and he may not be in a position to answer any questions from the media.”

Even the venue is being kept secret two days before the function, though many believe it is likely to be held in Lucknow’s Sahara Shahar.

The original plan was to just parade Roy before the cameras so that employees and investors can have a glimpse of him and some idea of the state of his health. Finally, it was decided that the Sahara chief would make a brief statement, too.

Ever since Roy withdrew from public view in January, there have been rumours about his ill health. He, however, did make an appearance on April 1 this year in Maharashtra’s Amby Valley on the occasion of his father Sudhir Kumar’s birth anniversary.

A college teacher, Bharat Nath Shukla, who declared himself Roy’s “well-wisher”, moved a habeas corpus petition last month alleging the Sahara chief was being held prisoner by his wife and demanding that Roy be produced before court. The petition was rejected.

“We will be sending video clips of our chairman on Thursday itself to all channels but will request them to use the clips on the 10th,” Sahara group spokesperson Abhijit Sarkar said. “After that he will make more public appearances by and by.”

Top Sahara executives claim that Roy has mainly been resting these three months on doctors’ orders.