The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been facing the opposition ire over the Lalit Modi controversy, now has a new reason to worry about ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
After External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who have been accused of quid pro quo in the Lalit Modi row, the leaders now in the line of fire are Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju.
While Fadnavis is in news for allegedly delaying an Air India flight to US, Rijiju is facing the heat for allegedly getting passengers de-boarded to get accommodate in a flight. The airline in question in both the cases is Air India.
One incident took place on June 29, when Fadnavis, along with his Principal Secretary Pravin Pardeshi and others, was leaving on a week-long US trip. According to sources, Pardeshi cleared at the check-in but was held back before boarding Air India flight AI-191 as the passport he was carrying did not have a valid US visa.
While Fadnavis earlier denied the claims, terming them as false and misleading, an official email has now confirmed that he did hold up the flight for 57 minutes.
According to an email sent by Air India Duty Manager to the airline's CMD and Executive Director, the flight was delayed because Fadnavis' Principal Secretary Praveen Pardeshi had forgotten to carry his old passport which had the US visa. The email further states that Fadnavis refused to leave without his Principal Secretary.
In the other instance on June 24, Minister of State for Homes Kiren Rijiju was accommodated in an Air India flight from Leh to Delhi after the airline de-boarded an Indian Air Force personnel and his family. Rijiju was accompanied by his assistant and Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh.
The Minister, however, denied any role in the incident. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Rijiju claimed that he was not aware that people were de-boarded to accommodate him and those accompanying him.
"I am not aware that any passenger was de-boarded to accommodate us in the Air India flight. It is illegal to de-board a bonafide passenger and cause unnecessary trouble," said Rijiju.
According to the minister, Air India advanced the flight at the last minute and the Leh administration arranged the tickets for him. He also called for action against those responsible for the act.
The minister said, "In case any passenger has been de-boarded from the flight, action should be taken against those responsible. Nirmal Singh and I were told in the last minute that the flight had been rescheduled."
He further said that they did not even attend the event they were slated to and rushed to the airport to board the flight.
Meanwhile, sources said that Union Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju met senior officials in his ministry over the issue.
These developments have provided fresh ammunition to the opposition parties that have already been in attempt to corner the NDA government and the BJP over the Lalit Modi row.
Reacting to the incidents, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam said that there was cases of abuse and misuse of power. He also said that the BJP leaders must apologise for their act.
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