24 March,2017 08:12 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad assaulted a 60-year-old Air India staffer with his slipper repeatedly, upset that he was asked to fly Economy class – in an all-Economy flight
Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad
Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad assaulted a 60-year-old Air India staffer with his slipper repeatedly, upset that he was asked to fly Economy class - in an all-Economy flight. By his own admission, Gaikwad (57) hit the elderly AI duty manager 25 times with his slippers, and even tore his shirt.
The airline filed two police complaints against the politician for assaulting the staffer and delaying the flight for 40 minutes. The police said that the AI officer, identified as Delhi duty manager Sukumar, has been sent for medical examination and an FIR will be registered based on the report.
According to the airline, Gaikwad had an open ticket to fly Business class with Air India, which allows a passenger to take a flight on any date. But he insisted on taking the AI 852 at 7:35 am last morning - an all-economy flight from Pune to Delhi. Upset that he had been 'forced' to fly Economy, the Osmanabad MP raised a ruckus by refusing to disembark after the flight landed in Delhi around 11 am, sparking an argument with the airline staff. Gaikwad refused to get off the flight, and when the staffer requested him to deboard, the Sena's Lok Sabha representative allegedly flared up and assaulted the staffer with his slipper. In the ensuing chaos, the aircraft clean-up was delayed, pushing the onward flight by 40 minutes.
'I'm Sena, not BJP'
The MP later acknowledged the assault, but remained defiant over the incident and sought an apology from the airline's chairman and managing director. Speaking to certain sections of the press shortly after the incident, Gaikwad defiantly admitted: "I hit him as he misbehaved with me. I am from the Shiv Sena, not the BJP."
Gaikwad told news channels that he asked the airline staffer, Sukumar, to "lower his voice."
Gaikwad's assault has drawn flak from former Air India executive director and aviation expert Jitendra Bhargava who condemned the attack on the staffer, as well as from opposition parties of the BJP and Congress.
Sena doesn't approve
Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande's initial response to Gaikwad's behaviour was: "We really should know what made him lose his temper. He is not a person who would suddenly jump into such a thing."
Subsequently, the party sought an explanation from him. "The party has sought an explanation from Gaikwad over the incident. The Sena does not condone violence of any kind," said Harshal Pradhan, media advisor to Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. "We have also sought a version of the incident from the Air India (AI) staffer. The Sena has a workers' union in Air India," he added.
Inputs from Agencies
