In Parliament, the Shiv Sena today drew parallels with a comedian’s drunken brawl on a flight and defended their own MP Ravindra Gaikwad’s assault on an Air India staffer last week.
Gaikwad had been banned by the airline following the incident and private carriers too had refrained from taking him on board. He was later seen travelling by train and reports later claimed he was ‘missing’. He resurfaced again yesterday, saying that the party had forbidden him from speaking to the press.
According to a report by NDTV, the Sena MP Anandrao Adsul raised the matter in Parliament, saying: “Kapil Sharma misbehaved on a flight after getting drunk but no ban was imposed on him. Corrupt people are allowed to fly. How can an MP be banned.”
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The MP was referring to Kapil Sharma’s drunken episode with then associate Sunil Grover on an Air India flight. Reports mention that the airline plan on issuing him a warning.
The Shiv Sena's Leader in the House Anandrao Adsul, who raised the issue, said he was only seeking lifting of the ban on flying imposed on Gaikwad by all major airlines after he assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of Air India on March 23.
However, Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju, instead of giving any positive response, admonished Gaikwad for indulging in violence on the flight last week.
“I never in my wildest dreams thought that an MP will get caught in such an incident,” he said, while emphasising that “Violence of any kind can be disastrous.”
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Referring to an earlier incident of violence by an MP against an airline staffer last year, Raju said following that episode, the DGCA had come out with safety guidelines.
The same guidelines were invoked in the case of Gaikwad who has been barred from flying by all the major airlines.
Adsul said the ban was against the Constitution and the law and that the government must intervene immediately.
He also talked about privileges of the MPs, responding to which the minister said, “An MP is also a passenger...We have to keep safety issues in mind.”
Adsul referred to a recent incident of alleged misbehaviour by comedian Kapil Sharma during a flight to Australia and wondered why no action was taken against him.
To this, Raju said, “We cannot have an unequal approach” but did not elaborate.
With the minister giving no positive response, the Shiv Sena members expressed their unhappiness by trooping into the Well of the House. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan told them that it was not right.
“Message achha nahi jaa rahi hai (The message going out is not good)... This is not the way,” she said and told the agitating members to discuss and resolve their issues with the Civil Aviation Minister.
The Speaker said the Shiv Sena members were trying to support something that is "wrong".
“Being a public representative, the incident he (Gaikwad) was involved in, does not send the right message,” she said.
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“Mujhe zyaada bholne pe majhboor na kare (Don't force me to speak more on the issue),” Mahajan said.
A Samajwadi Party MP did bring up a pertinent question though: Can an airlines ban any Member of Parliament from travelling while he travelling for official duty?
This question was raised by Naresh Agrawal today in the Rajya Sabha while referring to Gaikwad’s ban from flying by domestic airlines following his assault on an Air India staffer.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, he asked whether the airlines could take such an action even before the MP is found guilty of misconduct.
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Gaikwad being put on 'no-fly' list is the probably the first in Indian history as no one has so far been banned from flying for unruly behaviour in India.
Agrawal was not allowed to raise the issue by Deputy Chairman P J Kurien on the ground that it pertained to a member of the other House.
The person in question, Gaikwad, had earlier claimed to ANI’s cameras that he had rained 25 blows using his sandal on an Air India staffer. The Shiv Sena MP was apparently miffed at being made to travel in economy class.
With PTI Inputs
