Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad's wife jumps to his defence, says her husband lost cool when Air India staffers insulted PM Narendra Modi

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad has been charged with attempt to commit culpable homicide and using criminal force with intent to dishonour person.

Mumbai: After the Delhi Police registered a FIR against Ravindra Gaikwad for assaulting an Air India staffer, the Shiv Sena MP's wife came to her husband's defence.

Talking to Mumbai Mirror, Usha Gaikwad said it was the first time she saw her husband's "violent side".

"I had never imagined my husband would be hitting somebody like he did in Delhi. For the first time, his violent side has been seen and that was mostly because of the rude behavior by the airline staffers," she said.

She went on to insist that her husband doesn't get angry at all.

"Never in my life had I seen anger get the better of him. I called up him up after the incident around midnight and he said the Air India staffers were rude to him even when they knew that he was an MP," she said.

She added, "My husband wanted to do was register a complaint against Air India's poor service. But, instead of taking down his complaint, they kept on arguing. Finally, when they used the name of our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) disrespectfully, he lost his cool and hit the staffer."

The Osmanabad MP had visited Pune with his wife Usha and son Kiran for a family function a few days ago. After the function, his family stayed back in Pune while he decided to fly to Delhi on Thursday when the incident took place.

Defending her husband, Usha said: "My husband has a fairly long experience in politics...He was an MLA for two terms and is now representing the Osmanabad constituency in the Lok Sabha. Teaching was his profession and he has been extremely popular in Osmanabad because of his friendly behaviour. Anyone who knows him personally would have not even imagined that he would be doing something like this".

Notably, Ravindra Gaikwad was caught on camera force-feeding a Muslim employee during Ramadan at the Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi a few years ago.

Gaikwad has been charged with attempt to commit culpable homicide and using criminal force with intent to dishonour person, said Dependra Pathak, Delhi Police's chief spokesperson and special commissioner (operations).

Gaikwad, the Lok Sabha MP from Osmanabad in Maharashtra, hit 60-year-old duty manager R Sukumar "25 times" with his sandal when the official persuaded him to disembark after the plane landed at the IGI airport here from Pune.

The MP refused to alight, holding up the aircraft for over 40 minutes.

Despite huge criticism, the MP yesterday refused to apologise. He was later banned from flying and forced to catch a train to reach Maharashtra.