[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Though sources in the channel denied reports of the SpiceJet owner buying a 40 per cent stake, speculation rife that the Roys will lose editorial control

In a development that, if true, could significantly change the narrative of the news reportage at NDTV – one of the few television news platforms critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government’s policies – SpiceJet owner and BJP ‘insider’ Ajay Singh has reportedly picked up a 40 per cent state in the channel.

On Friday, a report in The Indian Express claimed that Singh – a man credited with coining the BJP’s popular 2014 poll slogan Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkar – “will have controlling stake in NDTV of around 40 per cent and the promoters Prannoy and Radhika Roy will hold around 20 per cent in the company.”

Given the channel’s poor financial health amid a rising debt burden – estimated to be at around Rs 400 crore – and an ongoing CBI investigation against its founders Prannoy and Radhika Roy and promoter firm RRPR Holding Pvt Ltd for allegedly concealing a share transaction, The Indian Express report has evoked wide interest among mediapersons as well as those who follow NDTV closely.

However, while the channel’s managing editor and director of strategy, Suparna Singh has denied the report through a tweet on Friday afternoon, sources in NDTV too claimed that “not even a single sentence of the (Indian Express) report is true.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Yet, despite the official denial by the channel – though the Roys were yet to comment on the purported development – there’s some reason to explore whether NDTV was preparing to transfer a significant chunk of its ownership and editorial control to Singh, who is also the co-founder and owner of SpiceJet airline.

Since Modi’s anointment as Prime Minister in 2014, NDTV – especially its prime time slot on the Hindi channel NDTVIndia that is anchored by Ravish Kumar – has often been criticised and hailed in equal measure for putting the Centre on the mat over its policies and perceived support to communal and Hindutva fringe elements. NDTV’s English and Hindi channels have both been critical of Modi’s demonetisation policy, his government’s failure in improving the country’s economy and reining in gau rakshaks and lynch mobs. A few months back, senior journalist Nidhi Razdan, the popular anchor of the English channel’s – NDTV24X7 – Left, Right & Centre show had asked BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra to leave her show when he alleged that the channel was “pursuing an agenda” against him and his party.

Trolls on Twitter – most of whom are admirers of Modi and his government and some who are even followed by the Prime Minister on Twitter – have frequently singled out NDTV, its promoters and anchors like Ravish and Nidhi, for criticising the Centre on key policy issues and have on most occasions hurled abuses at them and issued various threats.

Given this turbulent relationship between the Modi sarkar and the channel, its promoters and anchors, and the fact that a majority of the mainstream news channels are currently viewed as those that look at the Centre ‘more favourably’, it had often been speculated in the media that it was only a matter of time before NDTV have to pick one of at least four options. These were: to shut down, face greater CBI scrutiny, change its editorial narrative or let someone more favourably inclined towards the Modi government to take control of the channel.

It is in this backdrop that The Indian Express report about Ajay Singh taking over the editorial control of the channel through a purported Rs 600 crore deal seems to be gaining traction among media persons, NDTV fans and critics alike.

If Singh takes over the stakes in NDTV – something sources close to him say is going to happen – the company’s channels will, in all likelihood, not take a divergent or critical view of the Centre’s policy or political initiatives, particularly if rumours of Prannoy and Radhika Roy willing to sign over their editorial control of the group to the SpiceJet owner are proved to be true.

Singh’s association with the BJP is a well established fact. As The Indian Express report points out: “Singh served as OSD (officer on special duty) to (the late former Union minister) Pramod Mahajan during the first NDA government. It was in this period that he played an active role in the launch of DD Sports and was also behind the planning of DD News. Singh played a role in 2014 Lok Sabha campaign of the BJP as part of the core advertising/campaigning team.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]