Perturbed by the constant negative media coverage that he had caused the delay of a US-bound Air India flight at Mumbai airport, the Maharashtra CM, Devendra Fadnavis has threatened to take legal action for the ‘blatant lie’ being spread against him
He posted several tweets on the micro blogging site expressing his disgust over the continuing adverse media coverage.
His tweets read;
I reiterate,the reports of me delaying flight are misleading.Infact when I'd already boarded how can I say I wont travel without delegation?
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) July 2, 2015
If at all any report that has been submitted, states that I refused to travel without my delegation then it is a blatant lie because…
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) July 2, 2015
..passengers sitting besides & behind me are witness that I was sitting quietly waiting for departure. Not even once I asked to offload me.
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) July 2, 2015
His last tweet said that ‘enough is enough. Once I am back to India, I will initiate proceedings of criminal defamation.”
Fadnavis is currently on an official visit to the US for a week.
According to media reports, the Air India flight in question was delayed by nearly two hours because one of Fadnavis’ secretaries had forgotten to carry his passport that had the American visa. This reportedly caused the flight to be delayed.
This was followed by another incident, where another BJP minister, Kiran Rijiju, was accused of bullying ordinary passengers and getting three passengers deboarded from an Air India flight.
To make the matter worse, Rijiju on Wednesday was reported to have bullied common passengers forcing them to deboard flight AI-446 from Leh to New Delhi. Rijiju arrived late at the airport after attending the ‘Sindhu Darshan’ festival in the morning along with Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh.
Rijiju on Thursday apologised to passengers who were not able to board the flight to New Delhi, as some had to be off-loaded to make way for the minister.
On Thursday, the PMO sought for a detail reports on the reports of flights being delayed by his ministers. The PMO office formally asked the Ministry of Civil Aviation for a report explaining the irregularities.