Six pvt airlines ban Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad after refusal to apologise for hitting Air India staffer

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad drew more flak on Friday, with six private Indian carriers — IndiGo, Jet Airways, Air Asia SpiceJet, Vistara and GoAir — banning him from flying, while Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju promised that action would be taken against him. Besides this, IndiGo has also cancelled Gaikwad’s ticket for it’s Delhi-Pune flight which he had booked for Friday, according to ANI.

#FLASH: IndiGo cancels Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad's ticket for Delhi-Pune flight which he had booked for today.(file picture) pic.twitter.com/e4lEld9ltt

— ANI (@ANI) March 24, 2017

The Air India staffer who was assaulted by the MP on Thursday said he regretted the fact that public servants elected by a popular mandate behave in an unruly fashion, however, adding that he was in no way intimidated or scared by the power of the Sena leader. Sukumar, the 60-year-old Air India manager who was assaulted by Gaikwad over a tiff on business class tickets, said on Friday “They are public servants, elected by public they need to behave in a decent manner.” Speaking to CNN-News18_,_ the Air India staffer said that he had merely requested the MP to deboard the aircraft as the cleaning staff needed to do their work after which Gaikwad tried to push him off the flight, picked up his slipper and started hitting him. I am not scared at all,have been doing public dealing. Many people get irritated on such issues: Sukumar, AI staff assaulted by Shiv Sena MP pic.twitter.com/HcMCzdPXIW — ANI (@ANI_news) March 24, 2017 Meanwhile, an unrepentant Gaikwad has refused to apologise to the airline or Sukumar, and instead blamed the airline employee for the incident. [caption id=“attachment_3349002” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ravindra Gaikwad. News18[/caption] Gaikwad told reporters at the Maharashtra Sadan that he has no regret over his actions, saying “kaahe ka pashchaataap (what is there to repent)?” “I will not apologise…he (AI Manager Sukumar) should come and apologise… then we will see. A 60-year-old man should also know how to behave,” he said. Gaikwad said he went out to watch a Bollywood movie — Badrinath ki Dulhaniya — last night to “relax” after journalists sought his reaction over the incident. “Tension-free hona chahiye na…you also watch the movie…it’s very good,” he said. The first-time lawmaker also said he had made the Parliament “proud”, when asked if his act has brought shame to the temple of democracy. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said she cannot take suo motu action and that she will take a call if it is brought to her notice in the House. “I always say every human being should behave in a nice manner with everyone…whosoever it is, your behaviour should be good with everyone. As a mother I would suggest that to everyone. I will understand everything and then I will comment,” she told reporters before entering the house. Gaikwad also said that he has had no conversation with his party chief Uddhav Thackeray since the incident and added that he has written to the Lok Sabha Speaker and the civil aviation minister regarding the incident. On Thursday, Gaikwad had repeatedly hit a 60-year-old Air India officer with sandal over being unable to travel business class despite having insisted on boarding an all-economy flight. The national carrier has filed two FIRs against the MP, while the Shiv Sena has sought an explanation from him. “Police can arrest me…my party, Uddhav saheb will take care of it,” he said. Raju said the incident “should never have happened”. “It was an unfortunate incident. It should never have happened. What has to happen (now), will happen. I am not saying no action has to be taken. Action has to be taken and we will do it. That is not the problem at all. “I am also an MP. We are not above the law and we have to follow the law of the land,” he told reporters outside the House. With inputs from PTI