Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has reacted to the controversy over reports of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann being thrown out of a Lufthansa Airline plane in Germany for being drunk.
Mann, who was in Germany reportedly to attract investments in Punjab, was alleged to have arrived at the airport in an inebriated condition. The Delhi-bound Lufthansa flight, which was already running late due to a delay in the arrival of an inbound plane, had to leave without the AAP leader.
Several eyewitnesses had told The Hindu newspaper that Mann was forced to leave the plane for being drunk. His luggage was also reportedly removed from the plane.
The news of an Indian chief minister being thrown out of a plane for being drunk had triggered a huge controversy. Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Badal had tweeted, “Disturbing media reports quoting co-passengers say Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann was deplaned from Lufthansa flight as he was too drunk to walk & it led to a 4-hr flight delay. These reports embarrassed Punjabis all over the globe.”
Reacting to the news, Scindia said that he will look into the matter. According to news agency PTI, Scindia told reporters on the sidelines of an event, “This was an incident on international soil. We will have to make sure that we verify the facts. It is up to Lufthansa airline to provide the data. Based on the request that has been sent to me, I will certainly look into it.”
First government statement on Punjab CM #BhagwantMann by MoCA @JM_Scindia :
"This was international soil. We'll have to make sure we verify facts. Up to Lufthansa to provide data. I'll certainly,based on request sent to me, look into it.” @lufthansa pic.twitter.com/pH3SfwCMuQ— Ashoke Raj (@Ashoke_Raj) September 20, 2022
The AAP had rejected the allegations of Mann being humiliated on foreign soil.
Lufthansa had clarified that the Delhi-bound plane was delayed by several hours because of the late arrival of an inbound plane. The German airline had refused to confirm or deny if Mann was indeed deplaned in Frankfurt saying that ‘for data protection reasons we do not provide any information regarding individual passengers.’