What Congress said on Adani's bid for NDTV

New Delhi, Aug 24: Opposition leaders on Wednesday expressed concern over billionaire Gautam Adani's 'hostile takeover' of New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) with an indirect acquisition of a 29.18 per cent stake in the media giant followed by an offer to buy out a further 26 per cent controlling stake.

The owners of NDTV, one of the nation's most popular news channels, said they were completely unaware of the takeover until Tuesday, and that it was done without their consent or any discussion.

"The news of a deeply over-leveraged company owned by the PM's 'khaas dost' making a hostile takeover bid of a well-known TV news network is nothing but concentration of economic and political power, and a brazen move to control and stifle any semblance of an independent media," Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, said in a tweet.

In reference to the development, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "The news of a deeply over-leveraged company owned by the PM's 'khaas dost' making a hostile takeover bid of a well-known TV news network is nothing but concentration of economic and political power, and a brazen move to control and stifle any semblance of an independent media."

"What's mysterious is how a loan given by one of the 'Humare Do' is used as a weapon by the other member of the duo to trigger the hostile takeover of the television network. Ironical, that an outfit called 'Vishvapradhan' is closely involved!" Ramesh tweeted.

Adani's stunning move to seek control of NDTV as part of an ambitious expansion plan has the potential to change the media landscape. The channel said in a statement that the move by the Adani Group "was executed without any input from, conversation with, or consent of the NDTV founders".