New Delhi:
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh met with Congress president Sonia Gandhi this morning, allegedly to express his unhappiness about the role being attributed to him by the Prime Minister's Office in the controversial deal between Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and private Indian airline, Jet Airways.
Mr Singh later denied that he met Mrs Gandhi to complain to her and said he had visited her only to invite her for a function, but the minister is said to be extremely upset at having been sent a note from the Prime Minister's Office, which made it clear that the cabinet will review a bilateral agreement signed between Abu Dhabi and India in April that assigns 36,670 extra seats on flights between the two countries. If Etihad is able to buy its proposed 24 per cent stake in Jet, many of these seats will be made available for its use.
Opposition MPs have alleged that the agreement that allows those new seats was orchestrated to facilitate the Jet-Etihad deal - both agreements were announced on the same day.
Mr Singh, whose RLD party brings five MPs to the ruling coalition, has lobbied hard for the deal, defending it as "important for India."
In a statement on Monday, the Prime Minister's Office said that it had taken the unusual step of reviewing an agreement on flying rights because the Civil Aviation minister had asked the PM to clear a deal that differed from what had been sanctioned by an inter-ministerial group. (
Read: Prime Minister's office allegedly raises serious reservations on Jet-Etihad deal)
The implication was that the minister urged the PM to over-rule the objections voiced by that team. Dr Manmohan Singh's office said that he assigned four ministers to consider the bi-lateral agreement, heard their take on it, and then gave "an in-principle go-ahead."
Etihad said in April that it would pick up 24 per cent stake in Jet for Rs 2058 crores. The deal was deferred last month by the FIPB. If it is cleared there, it will then move to CCEA for consideration. It is the first overseas investment since India allowed foreign carriers to buy upto 49 per cent in an Indian airline.