SpiceJet’s Ajay Singh, The man who gave the slogan “Abki Baar Modi Sarkar” will take control of NDTV

SpiceJet’s Ajay Singh has picked up majority holding in NDTV. 

According to the source, Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director for SpiceJet, will have controlling stake in NDTV of around 40 per cent and the promoters of NDTV - Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy - will hold around 20 per cent in NDTV.

“India is intolerant, minorities are not safe in India, minorities are getting lynched by cow vigilantes, terrorists are misguided youths”, these sorts of slogans will never be heard in India again. Yes, the news channel which perhaps most of the times reported against India will soon turn into a patriotic channel.

Reports say that NDTV is all set to change hands as the founders Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy and promoter firm RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd are under the CBI radar. Yes, the co-founder and owner of SpiceJet has picked up majority holding in the news channel. As per the report, 40 percent of control in the company will be in the hands of Ajay Singh and 20 percent of control will be in the hands of Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy.

Ajay Singh had also played a major role in the advertising campaign of BJP during 2014 elections. He is the reason for the start of DD Sports and he also played a major role in the planning of DD News. He had acquired the loss making SpiceJet in the year 2015 and successfully turned it around. Ajay Singh will also take up NDTV’s debt of Rs 400 crore. The total value of the deal is around Rs 600 crore of which nearly Rs 100 crore will go to the Roys.

The Roys and the holding company RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd is being probed by the CBI for an illegal share transaction that happened in 2008. The Roys had caused a loss of Rs 48 crore to the ICICI Bank due to an illegal transaction. So the agency had even registered a case against them. After the news of Ajay Singh set to buy the controlling stakes in NDTV was reported in media, the shares of NDTV rose 5 percent to Rs 53.10 in the market.

Ajay Singh is an alumnus of Delhi’s St. Columba’s school and also a graduate of IIT Delhi. He also holds an MBA degree from Cornell University and a Bachelor’s degree in Law (LLB) from Law Faculty, University of Delhi. Now it is interesting to see how NDTV’s fans will react to this change.

Burkha Dutt was once a part of NDTV, who was infamous for revealing the secrets of the Indian Army to Pakistan during the Kargil War. Another noted figure from NDTV is Ravish Kumar who had recently faced the wrath of Indians after he dragged PM Modi’s wife into an argument. NDTV has also allegations against it that, it twists and turns facts so that it will benefit a particular community or political party.

Now it is interesting to see how Ajay Singh will turn the bad image of NDTV. There are high expectations that NDTV will be back track of true journalism by upholding the spirits of journalism under Ajay Singh.