NEW DELHI: The dispute within the Tata Group snowballed into a political row on Wednesday, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accusing the government of treating Indian businesses as its “plaything” and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hitting back, asking him to stop politicising commercial and legal matters.
The exchange followed Gandhi’s X post in which he alleged that “Tata is being criminally destroyed, and no business leader dares say a word”.
In her reply on X, the minister said, “Being the LoP, I suggest you refrain from politicising every issue. Also, casually labelling commercial and legal matters as criminal is unacceptable”.
Accusing Gandhi of repeatedly decrying the successes of Indian industry and entrepreneurs, she asked: “Now, are you trying to incite our business leaders to join you in spreading distrust and toxicity?”
Sitharaman said the Narendra Modi government valued industry as a creator of jobs and a driver of economic growth.
“Our policies have been tailored to enable enterprise, support industry and encourage investment,” she said.
The exchange escalated when Gandhi, responding to the minister’s rebuttal, questioned why Tata Trusts and Tata Sons representatives had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence. He also alleged that a favoured businessman could benefit from the dispute.
“Which ‘legal and commercial matter’ required Tata Trusts and Tata Sons to be hosted at Amit Shah’s residence?” Rahul asked in a post on X.
“When is crony number 1 going to appear in the game and which pieces of Tata is he going to get?” the Congress MP wrote, without naming anyone. Gandhi said Indian businesses, barring “3-4 of your cronies”, already opposed the government and needed no incitement.
The meeting Gandhi referred to took place at Shah’s residence in New Delhi on October 7, 2025, and was attended by Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran, Tata Trusts Vice-Chairman Venu Srinivasan and trustee Darius Khambata. Sitharaman also attended the meeting, according to media reports.
The meeting came amid growing divisions within Tata Trusts over board appointments and governance, raising concerns about the functioning of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. Reports at the time said the ministers had urged the group’s leadership to restore stability and prevent the dispute from affecting the wider conglomerate. The participants did not publicly confirm the exact nature of the meeting.
Attacking the Congress, Sitharaman accused the party of having smothered entrepreneurship under the “Licence-Quota Raj” and “inflicted poverty” on crores of Indians.
Political parties, governments and institutions shared a responsibility to support industry, strengthen farmers and secure the future of young people, the Union Finance Minister said, urging constructive engagement instead of “casting baseless aspersions” for political ends.
Invoking the judiciary, Sitharaman said courts were entrusted with upholding constitutional guarantees of justice. She also accused Gandhi and former Congress governments of demeaning the judiciary.
“So Rahul ji, refrain from seeing ghosts everywhere,” she said.
The political exchange comes amid a dispute over governance and leadership within the Tata Group.
Tata Trusts, which holds about 66% of Tata Sons, has been at odds with the company’s board over key decisions, including the reappointment of Chandrasekaran as executive chairman for another five-year term.
Noel Tata challenged the validity of the board resolution approving Chandrasekaran’s reappointment, alleging procedural irregularities at the September 17 meeting.
In a letter dated October 26 to Tata Sons Company Secretary Suprakash Mukhopadhyay, Noel said the agenda circulated to directors did not explicitly mention Chandrasekaran’s reappointment.
He alleged that the company had not constituted a Selection Committee as required under its Articles of Association and had not obtained the necessary approvals from directors appointed under Article 104 B.
The proposed listing of Tata Sons has also been contentious.
The Reserve Bank of India has required Tata Sons to comply with applicable listing requirements after rejecting its request to surrender its registration as a core investment company.
