BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has said that the comments made by SpiceJet owner Ajay Singh on the successful acquisition of Air India by Tata was an ‘amazing admission’ adding that this would be used against the government in his legal battle in the future.
A user shared the video clip of Ajay Singh’s interview with India Today alleging that the bidding process was rigged to sell Air India to Tata Group. In the interview, Singh was seen saying, “Firstly, it was a great honour for us to participate and be one of the two bidders for Air India. We are happy that we participated because, also, in a single bid situation, it would have been difficult for the government to disinvest Air India.”
Reacting to the interview shared by a Twitter user, who alleged rigging in the bidding process, Swamy wrote, “This interview of Ajay Singh of Spice Jet admitting why he had bid ( without any money at hand) is amazing admission which will be useful for my forthcoming PIL on Air India sell out.”
This interview of Ajay Singh of Spice Jet admitting why he had bid ( without any money at hand) is amazing admission which will be useful for my forthcoming PIL on Air India sell out.
— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) October 22, 2021
Swamy had threatened to initiate a legal battle against Rata Tata-led Tata Sons after the latter emerged as the top bidder for the takeover of Air India. He had written, “J.R.D.TATA was given compensation &JRD agreed to remain Chairman of Air India for several years. Rotten Tata, is son of adopted Naval. RT has been in losses in most of Tata companies. He has pushed out able executives. Air Asia in which RT has majority shares is in a mess.”
Days later, the government formally announced that Tata Group had won the bid to acquire Air India. Reacting to the news, Ratan Tata had penned an emotional note. “The Tata Group winning the bid for Air India is great news. While admittedly it will take great effort to rebuild Air India, it will hopefully provide a very strong market opportunity to the Tata Group’s presence in the aviation industry,” he had written.
Ironically, Air India was originally known as Tata Airlines before the Indian government took control of the company in 1953, six years of independence from British rule. JRD Tata, however, remained its chairman until 1977.