How will Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad go back to Pune? After Air India, IndiGo cancels his ticket

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju has promised that action would be taken against Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad.

New Delhi: An unrepentant Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on Friday continued to face the repercussions of his own action when IndiGo also cancelled his ticket from New Delhi to Pune.

After he refused to apologise to the Air India staffer whom he assaulted on Thursday, the airline not only cancelled his ticket for New Delhi-Pune flight scheduled for today but also blacklisted the Shiv Sena MP.

Standing with Air India, IndiGo too cancelled Gaikwad's ticket which was booked through an agent.

Notably, the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which has IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet Airways, GoAir as its members, has banned the Shiv Sena MP from flying.

"Air India and FIA member airlines have decided to ban this MP from flying on all our flights with immediate effect," the group`s associate director Ujjwal Dey said in a statement. 

"We believe that exemplary action should be taken in such incidents to protect employee morale and public safety," the statement added.

"We believe that an assault on any one of our employees is an assault on all of us and on ordinary law-abiding citizens of our country who work hard to earn a living," Dey said.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju has promised that action would be taken against him.

Earlier in the day, 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" himself 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 MP also said he had made the Parliament "proud", when asked if his act has brought shame to the temple of democracy.

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.

"Police can arrest me...My party, Uddhav saheb will take care of it," he said.

Yesterday, 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.