TDP MP Flies to Paris Despite Ban on Travel by Domestic Airlines

The TDP MP has defended his behaviour and stated that there is no need to apologise to the airlines.

TDP MP JC Diwakar Reddy. (Photo Courtesy: YouTube)

With almost all domestic airlines barring him from flying, TDP MP from Anantapur JC Diwakar Reddy decided to board an international flight, and left the country for France.

While it is yet to be known why he is visiting France, reports suggest that Diwakar went there on a holiday for six to ten days.

Reddy had misbehaved with IndiGo staff and created a ruckus at the Visakhapatnam airport after he was denied a boarding pass, as he had showed up late. CCTV footage also showed the lawmaker damage a printer, and push an IndoGo staffer around.

Despite all this, the MP boarded the same flight to travel to Hyderabad.

Initial reports had suggested that Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who also happened to be at the airport when the incident occurred, had intervened and arranged for a boarding pass for his TDP colleague.

Raju denied these reports and told a television channel on Friday that the MP came to him and told him that he had been waiting at the airport for one hour but was denied the boarding pass.

We have a third umpire called CCTV. We don’t have to take anybody’s words for it. It showed what that situation was. I asked the airport director to verify from CCTV camera.

Hours after tweeting that he would get the incident probed, Raju said there was no need for probe.

What are we going to probe? CCTV camera has said it all.

Raju said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms were clear that a passenger should get the boarding pass 45 minutes before the flight's departure time and the safety regulations were same for all categories of passengers. He found fault with his party MP's behaviour.

This is not expected of any citizen, forget a Parliament member. Pushing, pulling and hammering people... Law will take its own course.

Reporting that the MP and a 12-member family contingent flew out on an Emirates flight, the Deccan Chronicle stated that Diwakar Reddy spoke to the newspaper from Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) before he boarded the flight.

I know how to defend myself in the whole episode. I will raise the issue in the Lok Sabha. I demand a thorough investigation into the whole affair wherein Indigo staff overbooked the flight and issued boarding passes to a few and denied the same to many by collecting huge sums. I am collecting all the details and I will fight to protect my rights both as an individual and also as a Member of Parliament.

Following the incident, IndiGo had released a statement, and said that the staff had politely informed him that boarding for his flight was closed and offered to accommodate him in a subsequent flight.

Reddy expressed his annoyance and soon raged against the staff using aggressive and abusive behaviour. IndiGo saw a footage aired by some media personnel – which shows visual representation of Reddy’s aggressive behaviour against the staff and further damaging the airport property.

IndiGO

Following this, he was banned from flying by IndiGo, Air India, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir, AirAsia and Vistara.

Meanwhile, the Aviation Ministry at the Centre has reportedly ordered a probe into the incident on how the MP was allowed to board the flight after he was denied permission.