Where is the heir?

The fact that Siddharth Mallya, son of Vijay Mallya, is not terribly keen to take up any kind of role at the UB Group is well known, which is why he is also conspicuous by his absence at the company's annual general meetings (AGMs) as well. But a shareholder rather bluntly underlined this point when Siddharth's re-election to the board of UB Holding came for vote at the latest AGM earlier this week. When Vijay Mallya called for comments on re-election, a shareholder smartly asked "Where is Siddharth?" Vijay Mallya replied that he was in the US, to which the shareholder fired his final salvo: "Is he striking some deal for UBHL in the US?!" The irony was not lost on the other shareholders.