Gaikwad no terrorist, revoke ban, says Sanjay Raut

New Delhi: The Shiv Sena MPs on Thursday met Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and requested her to intervene and ask domestic airlines to withdraw the flying ban imposed on its MP Ravindra Gaikwad for the ongoing Budget Session.

“We met the Speaker today and requested her to instruct concerned authorities to withdraw the travel ban imposed on Gaikwad for the ongoing session,” said Rahul Shewale, party MP from South Central Mumbai. Mr Shewale expressed hope that Mr Gaikwad is allowed to fly during the current session of Parliament.

On March 23, Mr Gaikwad, the Lok Sabha MP from Osmanabad in Maharashtra, had assaulted an Air India staffer with sandals over a seat resulting in a ban on his flying by domestic airlines. The Shiv Sena said Mr Gaikwad is expected to meet the Speaker in a couple of days.

Vinayak Raut, party MP from Sindhudurg-Ratnagiri, said Mr Gaikwad is a public representative and by banning him from flying, the airlines are hampering his legislative work.

“It is also an injustice to people of his constituency. It is also improper to impose a blanket ban on anyone,” Mr Raut, who was the part of the delegation, said.

Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member, said airline companies are behaving like “goons” by letting terrorists take their flight but imposing restrictions on the common man. “What has he (Gaikwad) done? The behaviour of the airline companies is like mafia and goons,” he said.

“And moreover, the FIR has been lodged and investigation is not yet complete. Who has done what will be clear only after investigation is complete. In this country, till now, dictatorship has not yet started. If they are doing it under pressure from someone, this pressure will also not work for long,” he said without elaborating on who could possibly be exerting pressure on the air operators. He added that no action should have been taken against Gaikwad before investigation was complete.

Asked whether there should be a fly ban on Mr Gaikwad, he said: “There should not be a fly ban on him. Is he a terrorist? Terrorists, underworld dons, corrupt people can fly in your airlines, but an MP, who is a common man, he would not fly”.