Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu expressed unhappiness on Saturday over the behavior of his TDP's parliamentarian J.C. Diwakar Reddy, who created a ruckus at the Visakhapatnam airport.
During a visit to Anantapur, the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Diwakar Reddy, Naidu, who is also the Telugu Desam Party's President, said his behaviour brought bad name to the party.
According to TDP sources, Naidu, during a meeting with the TDP leaders of Anantapur district on Saturday, said leaders in public life should exercise restraint.
However, he did not say what action the party proposes to take against Diwakar Reddy, whose behavior has also caused embarrassment to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju.
Reddy had shouted at IndiGo officials, tried to throw a printer on the floor and pushed a senior airline official after he was denied boarding pass for reporting late for his flight from Visakhapatnam to Hyderabad.
The 73-year-old Lok Sabha member, however, later flew by the same flight as he had reportedly sought intervention of Raju, who was present at the airport. He told the minister that he had been at the airport for an hour but was denied boarding pass.
Raju denied helping the MP and clarified that he had only asked the airport director to look into the matter by examining CCTV footage. The minister hinted that Reddy lied to him as the CCTV footage showed he arrived late.
IndiGo barred Reddy from flying on its flights. Other domestic airlines including Air India, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir, AirAsia and Vistara also followed.
Even as the debate was on over the unruly behaviour of the MP, he left abroad along with his family on a vacation.
His brother J. C. Prabhakar Reddy confirmed that he left on Friday night. He, however, did not disclose the destination or the international carrier he used for flying.
Prabhakar Reddy, who is a member of Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly and like his brother belongs to the TDP, claimed that the vacation was scheduled in advance and the foreign trip had nothing to do with the incident at Visakhapatnam airport or the ban by some domestic airlines.
Prabhakar Reddy said every year his brother goes abroad for vacation with his family members.
Meanwhile, the Visakhapatnam district unit of the YSRCP staged a protest in front of the city’s airport on Saturday evening.
“Even after all the ruckus, he managed to get a boarding pass with the help of civil aviation minister P Ashok Gajapati Raju. An inquiry should also be launched into the minister's role in helping the unruly Reddy. As a lawmaker, he should adhere to the norms of the airlines. He should know that nobody is above the law,” YSRCP district president Gudivada Amarnath was quoted as saying.
IANS inputs