Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad beats up AI staffer, says I hit him 25 times, not once

In a shocking incident, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on Thursday beat up an Air India staffer, allegedly for allotting him an economy class seat in a flight that didn't have business class.

The incident took place on Thursday morning inside Air India's Pune- Delhi flight AI 852. The lawmaker thrashed a 60-year-old staffer with his slippers and broke his spectacles.

DNA learnt that Air India is considering to blacklist Gaikwad. Banning passengers for unruly behaviour is a worldwide practice but Air India does not have any such list. It will be a first for the national carrier if it does so. In a statement, the airline said: "Air India is examining the creation of a no-fly-list of unruly passengers on the lines of other carriers."

Gaikwad owned up the act but remained unapologetic. In fact, he bragged about it and said: "I hit the staffer 25 times, not just once. I kept asking for a complaint book, but they kept refusing. Finally, I told them I am an MP but they said what MP, we only know Narendra Modi and we will tell him." Sources in the airline said that the politician hit senior staffer R Sukumar when the latter mentioned the PM's name.

Gaikwad, who is a first-time MP from Maharashtra's Osmanabad constituency, later told journalists: "I am not a BJP MP. I am a Shiv Sena MP and will not tolerate any insult. Let the employee complain. I will complain to the speaker and other authorities."

Meanwhile, the airline lodged two FIRs against Gaikwad. The first one was lodged against Gaikwad for assault and the second against him for forcibly holding the flight and delaying it for 40 minutes. The airline also conducted an inquiry into the VVIP high-handedness and held that the MP had assaulted its senior staff.

Giving the sequence of events, a senior airline official said: "The MP had a business- class coupon. His office was clearly told that AI 852 was an all-economy flight. There were two other Pune-Delhi flights which had business class."

Airline officials, who were in touch with the parliamentarian's staff, told DNA that the MP decided to take this flight probably because of the ongoing Parliament session but trouble began soon after he boarded the flight. Gaikwad entered into an argument with the crew over the seating arrangement and the arguments turned uglier when the flight landed at Delhi airport around 9.40 am. The MP allegedly refused to deboard and the flight was held for about 40 minutes.

When the crew failed to convince Gaikward to deboard, the airport manager decided to send its deputy manager Sukumar to pacify Gaikwad. "After the plane landed, he did not alight from it for about 40 minutes. He was angry at being made to travel in economy class despite having a business-class coupon. Our cabin crew and other staff repeatedly requested him to alight from the plane," said the official.

Gaikwad allegedly lost his temper when Kumar told him that he is an elected representative and should act accordingly. When Gaikwad refused to alight, despite Kumar's repeated requests, Sukumar apparently told him that he would complain to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and this is when the Sena MP hit him.

Kumar told media: "Ravindra Gaikwad hit me, used foul language and humiliated me in front of the whole crew. He hit me and broke my specs. God save the country, if MPs behave like this." The Air India management filed a separate complaint against the MP for delaying the flight. Taking serious note of the incident, Air India Chairman Ashwani Lohani issued a statement, saying that, in case of similar incidents, airport managers should immediately lodge an FIR without waiting for approval.

This is not the first time that elected representatives are misbehaving with AI staff. In November 2015, a Congress MP slapped an AI station manager at Tirupati airport for refusing to accept him and his relatives on a flight, for which boarding was closed. The MP and his entourage reached Tirupati airport 20-25 minutes before the flight departure time while boarding counters for domestic flights close 45 minutes before departure.

Before that, a Bihar politician had misbehaved with an air hostess of a private airlines. The air hostess did not file a complaint against the MP, whose spouse is also an MP, with the police, but gave her complaint to the airline. The private airline did not act on that as it said the employee must file a complaint with the police.

Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju condemned the incident and said that no political party will encourage such an act. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha also condemned the beheviour of Gaikwad and said that the incident will be investigated and action will be taken.