Behind this controversy over air fares is the back story of 2020 when the 15-month-long Kamal Nath government fell, with Nath accusing the BJP of conspiring with Jyotiraditya Scindia which led to 22 ‘greedy MLAs’ toppling his government
The battle for Madhya Pradesh is now sky high and the target is Civil Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. It all began with several advisories from the minister and his ministry to airlines to control air fares, especially on routes which Go First was flying and has now stopped operations on. Post the horrific Balasore train crash, the ministry had also advised that in case of accidents and emergencies, fares should be affordable.
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The trigger for the war of words was when the ministry boasted of increase in aviation traffic. This was immediately countered by Congress general secretary KC Venugopal who tweeted: “Hard facts and everyday suffering of the middle class cannot be wished away by distorting figures and misrepresenting the actual facts on the ground.”
Scindia hit back in a series of tweets, accusing the Congress leader of cherry picking facts and “forgetting the step motherly treatment to aviation during the UPA government”.
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Interestingly, Scindia was a Union minister during the UPA era but had quit the party post 2014, saying he was upset at the step-motherly treatment he was receiving from the Congress, especially in MP, where the Grand Old Party was in power with Kamal Nath as the chief minister.
Scindia was quick to respond with facts that the fares had increased on those routes where Go First had stopped flying. He also asked why three airlines — Kingfisher, Paramount and Air Deccan — had gone bust during the UPA.
Behind this controversy over air fares is the back story of 2020 when the 15-month-long Kamal Nath government fell. In fact, the MP chief minister had resigned even before the floor test when he realised he did not have the numbers to win. Nath accused the BJP of conspiring with the ‘Maharaja’ (Scindia) which led to 22 ‘greedy MLAs’ toppling his government.
Since then, the Congress has not forgiven Scindia. After he quit the party, Rahul Gandhi hit out by saying his doors were always open for his ‘friend’ Scindia who had betrayed him.
The leader retaliated, saying the Nath-Digivijaya Singh combo had ensured he was repeatedly humiliated in Madhya Pradesh and his supporters were denied space and respect.
As Nath and Congress make another pitch to come back to power in MP with the hope that the anti-incumbency against Shivraj Singh Chouhan works for them, the Grand Old Party hopes to take its revenge from the ‘Maharaja’. The hungama over air fares is just shadow boxing. The real fight is the palace intrigue which did the Nath government in.
