Denied boarding pass, TDP MP creates ‘ruckus’ at airport

Visakhapatnam, June 15 (IANS) TDP's member of Parliament J.C. Diwakar Reddy on Thursday allegedly created a ruckus at the airport here after he was denied a boarding pass for reporting late for a flight to Hyderabad.

Reddy, Lok Sabha member from Anantapur, was accused of damaging a printer and misbehaving with IndiGo airline staff.

The MP had reported at the check-in counter 20 minutes before the scheduled departure of the flight. As the airline staff told him they cannot issue him a boarding pass, he got angry and entered into a heated argument with them, airport sources said.

Closed-circuit television footage aired on some television channels showed the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader shouting at the airline staff as some security personnel tried to control him.

Interestingly, the MP managed to board the flight but it was not clear who intervened to get him the boarding pass.

Reddy, however, is not likely to face any action for his behaviour as IndiGo did not formally lodge a complaint with airport authorities.

Civil Aviation Minister and TDP leader Ashok Gajapathy Raju, who was present at the airport, claimed Reddy had reached the airport on time.

"Perhaps the flight was overbooked," the Minister said.

In March, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad was accused of assaulting an Air India staff, following which several airlines banned him from flying on their planes till he apologised.

Gaikwad later submitted a letter to the Aviation Minister to express 'regret', after which AI revoked the ban, followed by the Federation of Indian Airlines and other private airlines.