Ravindra Gaikwad-Air India row: Never demanded business class seat, airline is misguiding everyone, says Shiv Sena MP

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad had stated that he had never demanded a Business Class seat, but had instead requested a complaint book to address his grievance about 'substandard service'.

Mumbai: Asserting that Air India was trying to misguide everyone as to what actually caused the altercation onboard the aircraft, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad stated that he had never demanded a Business Class seat, but had instead requested a complaint book to address his grievance about 'substandard service'.

Issuing a fresh statement, the MP said that while travelling in the flight, he noticed "carelessness and substandard" service of Air India and requested for a complaint book, but despite his frequent requests he was not provided the complaint book, instead the staffer misbehaved with him.

"I was demanding proper facilities not the business class seat. But just to hide their careless attitude and cheating towards lakhs of Air India passengers, they tried to create a picture that I was continuously demanding for business class seat. This is completely baseless," he said.

Gaikwad on Friday submitted a complaint against Air India before the Delhi Police alleging that he was pushed and yelled on.

In his complaint, Gaikwad, who allegedly manhandled Air India staffer, said he was made to travel by Air India on economy class even as he had business class ticket.

The Shiv Sena is also likely to bring a privilege motion in the Parliament over the issue of Gaikwad being put in 'no fly list' of all airlines.

Air India and six private airlines banned the 56-year-old MP from flying as he refused to apologise for the incident that triggered nationwide outrage.

Anandrao Adsul of the Shiv Sena raised the issue of the ban imposed on R Gaikwad by airlines in Lok Sabha, saying "I hope you (Speaker) will raise it with government".

The Osmanabad MP after being blacklisted by the top airlines boarded a train to Mumbai earlier on Friday evening.

Asserting that all MPs need to attend Parliament diligently and cannot always travel by train, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan today called for resolving the issue of Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaekwad's 'flying ban' by several airlines through amicable talks.

"MPs need to attend Parliament and they cannot travel by train always. At times, they need to travel by plane also. I feel that this issue (blanket ban) should be resolved amicably through talks," said Mahajan after a meeting attended by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and Sena MPs. 

With IANS Inputs