'Ill-Informed, Shocking': Aviation Minister Scindia Slams Cong Over Remarks on 'Skyrocketing Airfares'

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia launched a scathing attack on Congress leader KC Venugopal over his “skyrocketing airfares” remark and called it “ill-informed” and shocking”.

“As former Minister of State for Civil Aviation, it is highly shocking that @kcvenugopalmp Ji has made such undiscerning and ill-informed remarks on the aviation sector. We have advised airlines to self-regulate their fares under a certain limit – the result of which is that prices have come down by 14%- 60% since June 6, 2023,” tweeted Scindia.

Continuing the Twitter spat, the Congress leader responded to Scindia’s tweet saying “suffering of the middle class cannot be wished away by distorting figures and misrepresenting the actual facts on the ground”.

Venugopal also attached two screenshots depicting airfare from New Delhi to Bengaluru saying “flights on key routes such as Delhi-Bengaluru are beyond the reach of the common man.” 

He further asked if the Aviation Minister is still going to defend these rates.

Earlier, KC Venugopal had hit out at the Narendra Modi-led Central government saying PM Modi’s remarks that people wearing hawai chappals (slippers) can now travel in aeroplanes, sounds like a “cruel joke”.

In a series of tweets, the Congress leader had questioned whether the government had any intervention planned to check airfares.

“These skyrocketing airfares are creating havoc among the middle class. The government’s complete free pass to the airlines, coupled with their rampant privatisation spree, is responsible for the dire situation today. The @MoCA_GoI must confront some hard facts,” Venugopal said.

“With Go First collapsing, and with SpiceJet barely flying any routes, why did the government have no strategy to correct this massive dip in the number of flights being flown?” the Congress leader further questioned.

In response to the Congress leader’s tweet, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia emphasized that the “Indian economy continues to stand as a beacon of hope with a growth rate of 6.0%–6.5% in FY 2023–24” in a six-point rebuttal.

Scindia added that “there is no reason that a deregulated sector like aviation should be put under government control – the repercussions of which have been known to dent the growth potential of this sector in the past.”

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