Who is Tejasvi Surya, classical singer and BJP MP accused of opening emergency exit of IndiGo plane?

BJP leader Tejashvi Surya allegedly opened the emergency exit doors of an IndiGo aircraft before takeoff. The alleged incident took place at the Chennai airport on December 10 last year. IndiGo issued a statement on Tuesday but didn't mention the name of the politician. However, many media outlets reported it was Surya who opened the door.

IndiGo said in the statement that Flight 6E 7339 -- going from Chennai to Tiruchirapalli on December 10 -- "accidentally" opened the emergency exit. After the incident, the passenger apologised. Per the standard operating procedures, the incident was officially logged and the plane was thoroughly checked by the company's engineering team that delayed the flight.

The Indian Express reported that the passenger was Surya and he was travelling with K Annamalai, BJP's Tamil Nadu president.

Here's what happened, according to the daily. Surya and Annamalai were seated next to the emergency exit door. As the cabin crew was giving safety instructions, he allegedly pulled the emergency door that opened. The door opened as the flight was preparing for takeoff. The flight took off after a two-hour delay.

Surya reportedly gave a written apology to the airline. DGCA, the country's aviation regulator, has termed the leader's action a mistake. It said no safety was compromised.

Who is Tejasvi Surya? Tejasvi Surya's full name is Lakya Suryanarayana Tejasvi Surya. He is a BJP Member of Parliament from Bangalore South. He is also the president of the party's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He is one of the youngest MPs in India.

He was born on 16 November 1990. His father is the former excise commissioner. His name is LA Suryanarayana. His uncle LA Ravi Subramanya is the MLA from Basavanagudi constituency, L. A. Ravi Subramanya.

He is a law graduate. He studied in the Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies. He is a carnatic music singer. He also owns an NGO.

He was an active ABVP worker. He helped the party win the 2014 general elections. He also led the Digital Communications Team for Karnataka BJP in 2018.

After the death of Ananth Kumar in 2018, Bengaluru South constituency was vacant. He contested the 2019 general elections from Bengaluru South. His candidature was backed by BS Yeddyurappa and BL Santosh. He defeated his Karnataka rival by a massive margin of over 3,31,192 votes. He became the youngest BJP MP ever at the age of 28 years and 6 months.

He has courted many controversies since his election. The biggest was on May 5, 2021, when he claimed to have found a scam in BBMP's bed allocation during the coronavirus pandemic. He read out the names of 17 of the 204 employees in BBMP's covid control room -- all happened to be from the minority community. The opposition accused him of communalising the issue.

He also runs an NGO.