Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad: MPs have to attend Parliament, can’t always travel by train

Speaking on the issue, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan ruled out any action against Gaikwad and spoke against the ban by the six Indian airlines.

Updated: March 27, 2017 4:44 PM IST

By Sohit Mishra

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad: MPs have to attend Parliament, can't always travel by train

New Delhi, Mar 27: After Air India and the Federation of Indian Airlines added Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad to the no-fly list, the flight ban issue found its way to the Parliament. Speaking on the issue, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan ruled out any action against Gaikwad and spoke against the ban by the six Indian airlines. Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said that the airlines cannot discriminate between passengers.

Speaking to news agency ANI, the Lok Sabha speaker stated that “The MP’s have to attend the parliament. They can’t always travel by train, they need to travel by plane too.” Gaikwad also received support from Congress and Samajwadi Party MPs. Speaking on the issue, the Congress MPs backed Gaikwad stating that despite the wrong behaviour of the Sena leader, the airlines have no right of banning him from travelling via air. Backing Gaikwad in Rajya Sabha, Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal stated, “Airlines banning Ravindra Gaikwad just goes to show their (airlines) ‘dadagiri’.”

Shiv Sena backs Gaikwad

Although Shiv Sena has not supported Gaikwad’s actions, the party leaders raised concern over the airline’s decision of banning the Osmanabad MP from travelling via air. The party decided to move a privilege motion against the decision of including Gaikwad on the no-fly list. Comparing the incident with comedian Kapil Sharma, Shiv Sena leader Ababdrao Adsul stated that, “I hope you (Speaker) will raise it with the government. Even Kapil Sharma misbehaved on flight after getting drunk, but no ban was imposed on him.”

Same rule for all: Civil Aviation Minister

While the Congress and Samajwadi Party MPs backed Gaikwad, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju expressed disappointment with the behaviour of the Sena leader. Responding to Shiv Sena leader Ababdrao Adsul, the Aviation Minister stated that, “We have good safety regulations but never in my dreams expected a Parliament member to be caught. Rules are the same for everyone.”

Low profile of Sena MP

Amid the entire controversy, reports suggest that Shiv Sena has asked Gaikwad to maintain a low profile. It is been reported that the Osmanabad MP is neither in Mumbai, Pune or Osmanabad. Speaking to Times of India on Sunday, Gaikwad stated that, ” can’t tell you where I am right now. I am with my family members and I will celebrate Gudi Padwa with them before returning to Parliament on Wednesday morning.” To avoid more controversies on the issue, Shiv Sena has asked its leader of lying low.

Shutdown call in Osmanabad

Supporting its MP, the Shiv Sena wing of Osmanabad declared shutdown on Monday. Sena volunteers also organised a bike rally in Maharashtra’s Omerga, displaying their support t the local MP.

“Will highlight falling service of Air India”

Facing flack on the entire issue, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on Monday released a statement stating that he will highlight the falling service of Air India. “I will raise my voice against the falling service standards of Air India. I will speak out against the delay passengers face in getting checked in baggage, the issue of baggage theft, cleanliness, timing delays. the airline forcing people to travel economy inspite of having business class tickets and the quality of food. I will take up these issues and ensure that service improves,” the statement said. 

The Osmanabad MP came into controversies after he was alleged of brutally thrashing a 60-year-old duty manager of Air India for not being able to fly business class in an all economy Pune-Delhi flight. Video of the MP thrashing the Air India duty manager went viral on Social media after which Gaikwad was banned by Air India and five other domestic airlines.

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