NEW DELHI: With chaos prevailing at most airports across the country due to a crew shortage at IndiGo Airlines and at least 1,000 flights cancelled in the last four days, the Congress on Saturday blamed the government for the crisis, saying it was not an accident but a direct outcome of the BJP government’s relentless push to manufacture a duopoly in the aviation sector.
The Congress also demanded a white paper on the large-scale cancellations and dubbed the formation of a four-member committee an eyewash. Congress MP and War Room chairman S. Senthil said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised ease of air travel through the UDAN scheme, but in reality, he had given people a cease of air travel.
He said the ongoing chaos at IndiGo was not an accident but the direct result of the BJP government’s persistent efforts to create a duopoly in the sector. The disastrous consequences of that agenda are now exploding in full public view, he said.
Highlighting how IndiGo cancelled more than 1,000 flights on December 5, 2025, with hundreds more grounded on December 6, Senthil said that the nation’s air travel system had been brought to its knees. This crisis is not a natural breakdown; it is the predictable fallout of the BJP government’s push to crush competition, reward favourites, and reshape an entire national industry to suit a tiny circle of corporate allies, he said.
Slamming the government, Senthil said its reckless handling of aviation safety exposed the full extent of its negligence. After releasing the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules on January 8, 2024, and partially implementing them on July 1, 2025, the BJP government has now shamelessly withdrawn these critical safety protections in the middle of a sector-wide meltdown, he alleged.
This is not just irresponsible; it is outrageous. By scrapping rules specifically designed to prevent pilot fatigue, the BJP government has jeopardised passenger safety and thrown the well-being of cockpit crew into uncertainty.
Taking a swipe at the government, Senthil said that instead of stabilising the situation, it had deepened the crisis, proving once again that safety and accountability mean nothing to this administration when weighed against the convenience of their preferred corporations.
He further targeted the BJP, saying: The BJP government’s obsession with creating monopolies is visible across India’s infrastructure landscape. Why does only one corporate group repeatedly receive such large, strategically important assets, for example, the handover of multiple airports, including those once managed by others? Why is no other capable corporate player given a fair chance? This pattern is too consistent to be dismissed as coincidence. It reflects a government that has weaponised policy, regulation, and public assets to build dominance for its chosen conglomerates whether in aviation, telecom, ports, or infrastructure, the Congress leader said.
Referring to revelations surrounding electoral bonds, Senthil said they added another troubling dimension. The data shows that InterGlobe group entities bought around Rs36 crore in electoral bonds, while its promoter Rahul Bhatia purchased about Rs20 crore, much of it encashed by the BJP. 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.
