Controversial Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad reached Delhi today to attend the Lok Sobha session. This will be his first appearance in the house since being ‘banned’ by major airlines for assaulting a staff member of Air India last month.
After reaching the national capital, Gaikwad also rubbished the reports that he charted a flight to fly from Maharashtra to Delhi. He said: “I am a poor man and I can’t afford to charter a flight.”
Ravindra Gaikwad reportedly took the Rajdhani Express for reaching Delhi and he is expected to address media personnel after attending the House.
According to reports, Gaikwad had last week attempted to book air tickets using different honorifics and spellings of his name, but his efforts were in vain. Professor Ravindra Gaikwad and Professor V Ravindra Gaikwad were the names he reportedly used.
Notably, another BJP MP Sunil Gaikwad, who unfortunately shares the same last name as the Sena MP, was repeatedly stopped at security check points before boarding a flight.
In March, Gaikwad, had abused and assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of Air India with slippers just because he had to travel economy class on an all-economy flight though he had an open business class ticket.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena says that is just one side of the story and it is protesting against the ban on their MP. Anand Rao Adsul, the Shiv Sena leader in the Lok Sabha, said that the party is still waiting for a response from the Civil Aviation Ministry to its challenging of the ban.
Adsul has asserted that the Sena has so far refrained from hungama (drama) since it is a part of the government, but that will change unless Gaikwad’s complaints against Air India for poor service are processed, and the ban on him revoked.
