Son or brother: Who will succeed Ponty Chadha?

IN FAMILY ROW Was grooming son Monty, brother Raju worked silently

MEERUT: Control over the family business has been cited as the main reason for the raging feud between Gurdeep Singh Chadha alias Ponty and his brother Hardeep Singh Chadha alias Satnam.

Now, with both the brothers dead, the question that is being asked is who will take over the

R6,000- crore Wave Inc — a conglomerate of companies which had been run by Ponty Chadha so far. The incident has brought to the fore the rift in the Chadha family. Sources close to the family believe that Ponty always kept his brothers Rajender Chadha and Hardeep Chadha by his side and accommodated not only his family members in business but also provided opportunities to his distant relatives to keep the family united.

But cracks started showing after the death of Ponty's father Kulwant Singh on April 14 last year. Sources said Hardeep discussed the issue with his uncle Harbhajan Singh in Moradabad last year when he visited the town for a family function. He desperately wanted his share in the ancestral and other properties, which may have finally led to the shootout on Saturday in which the two brothers were killed.

The incident has triggered speculation that it will lead to further rift in the family over control on property.

Now, the two claimants are Ponty`s son Gurpreet alias Monty and his uncle Raju Chadha. While Ponty groomed his son, his brother Raju preferred to work silently under the shadow of his elder brother.

Keeping in mind the bad press that it may earn the family, the Chadhas are trying their best to put up a united front. An obituary advertisement, published in all dailies on Sunday, which has the pictures of the two brothers is being seen an attempt in this direction.

The half-page advertisement also carries the name of all family members. Since the violent death of Ponty Chadha has cast a shadow over his booming business, the family believes that any public spat would hurt the brand that Ponty has created.

Apart from challenges of stabilising and consolidating the business, Ponty’s successor would have to match his enigmatic personality.

Despite him being a regular in the power corridors, Ponty was rarely seen getting pictures clicked with political heavyweights.