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Unprecedented scenes were seen in the Lok Sabha on Thursday when Shiv Sena MPs, led by Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete, charged at Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju who refused to concede to their demand to lift the flying ban on fellow MP, Ravindra Gaikwad.
Raju was surrounded by agitated Shiv Sena MPs, egged on by Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, even as senior BJP Ministers SS Ahluwalia, Jayant Sinha and Smriti Irani rushed to his rescue. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was present in the House, was later seen trying to calm down Geete, who was heard saying: "No flight will take off from Mumbai."
Amid the chaos, Ahluwalia was seen protectively escorting Raju out of the House.
The chaos began soon after the House was adjourned following Raju’s statement after Gaikwad read out his explanation for the incident that led to his ban, denied any wrongdoing, and tendered an apology if he had in anyway tarnished the image of the House. He said he would not apologise to the “airline official”, who he allegedly beat '25 times;' with his slippers.
Gaikwad, a Shiv Sena MP from Osmanabad in Maharahstra, who attended the House for the first time since the incident two weeks ago, said: “My collar was pulled, so I pushed him. Now my constitutional right to move is being attacked.
Without any proper investigation, I have been subject to a media trial. Not just that, all other airlines have decided to ban me from flying without me getting a chance to prove my innocence,” he said, adding that he had a “humble” temperament and said he got provoked as the Air India official allegedly insulted the Prime Minister. He also questioned why an ‘attempt to murder’ case was mentioned in the FIR filed against him by the Delhi Poice.
In a brief reply, the second this week, Raju said he had received two letters in this regard by the aggrieved MP and had forwarded those to concerned department.
“Law should take its own course,” he said, adding that there are certain civil aviation requirements which see “everybody as a passenger”, even MPs.
Raju added that aircraft “were machines in which people fly and safety is important and will not be compromised”, and left it to Gaikwad to decide if he wanted to defuse the matter or aggravate it.
His reply provoked the agitating Sena members who trooped out of their seats and surrounded Raju’s seat in the front row, joined in Geete, and were later heard shouting “Gajapati Raju Hai Hai.”
The Congress and CPI(M), meanwhile, started shouting “Shame” to the government for not being able to protect its senior Minister from its angry allies as also allowing the chaos to persist in the House.
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