PM Modi promised ease of air travel but gave 'cease of air travel', says Congress amid IndiGo crisis

New Delhi: Claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of ease of air travel have given way to "cease of air travel", Congress on Saturday asked the government whether it was showing "extraordinary leniency" to IndiGo because of BJP's "financial proximity" to the airline and its promoter, who have donated to the ruling party through electoral bonds.

Senior MP Sasikanth Senthil said the present IndiGo fiasco is "not an accident" and a "direct outcome of the BJP government’s "relentless push to manufacture a duopoly" in the sector, the disastrous consequences of which are now "exploding in full public view". He asked whether Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu would take responsibility for the "unprecedented crisis".

"This crisis is not a natural breakdown; it is the predictable fallout of the BJP government that has been hell-bent on crushing competition, rewarding favourites, and reshaping an entire national industry to suit a tiny circle of corporate allies," Senthil said.

Addressing a press conference, Senthil said electoral bond disclosures showed significant purchases by IndiGo’s parent company InterGlobe and its promoter Rahul Bhatia and most of it were encashed by the BJP. Data shows that InterGlobe group entities bought around Rs 36 crore in electoral bonds and its promoter Rahul Bhatia purchased about Rs 20 crore, he said.

"It raises legitimate questions about how a sector once filled with healthy competition has been reduced to a fragile duopoly, and whether financial proximity to the BJP has played any role in shaping this distorted landscape. These concerns cannot be brushed aside. They strike at the heart of public trust and democratic integrity," he said.

"Given electoral bond disclosures showing massive purchases by InterGlobe group entities and its promoter, is the BJP’s financial proximity to IndiGo the real reason behind this extraordinary leniency at the cost of passengers’ safety?" he asked.

Claiming that the BJP government’s "obsession with creating monopolies is visible" across India’s infrastructure landscape, Senthil also questioned the relaxations given to IndiGo on Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms.

He said the government has "now shamelessly" withdrawn critical safety protections in the middle of a sector-wide meltdown and it was "not just irresponsible but outrageous".

"By scrapping rules specifically designed to prevent pilot fatigue, the government has allegedly jeopardised passenger safety and thrown the well-being of cockpit crew into uncertainty. Instead of stabilising the situation, they have deepened it, proving once again that safety and accountability mean nothing to this administration when weighed against the convenience of their preferred corporations," he said.