A BJP youth wing leader has demanded an apology from IndiGo airlines and asked the Civil Aviation Minister to take action against the airline for the incident on an IndiGo flight, where a student sloganeered at BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan. Vinoj P Selvam, President of Tamil Nadu’s Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, has written a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Suresh P Prabhu, condemning the incident and asking that action be taken against the airline for not stepping in.
“After boarding the flight Ms Sophia saw Dr Tamilisai and started to shout inside the aircraft. Our leader, however, remained cool inside the flight, but politely asked her whether her in-flight behaviour was justified after both got down at Tuticorin airport. Ms Sophia, however with no question of remorse justified her behaviour and refused to apologise when the BJP supporters requested her to do the same,” Vinoj wrote in the letter, adding that Sofia had tweeted about her intentions to confront the BJP leader, prior to shouting the anti-BJP slogans at her, which he says was a “planned attempt to malign the party as well as our leader’s image.”
My letter to Civil Aviation Minister @sureshpprabhu condemning yesterday's incident and have also requested immediate action against @IndiGo6E airlines and its crew for their negligence.@MoCA_GoI @DrTamilisaiBJP @BJP4India @BJP4TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/VWeyZxoggu
— Vinoj P Selvam (@VinojBJP) September 4, 2018
He further went on to ask the Civil Aviation Minister to take action against the airline immediately for not stepping in when the student was shouting in the flight.
On Monday morning, Tamilisai and a 28-year-old student, Lois Sofia, got into an argument after the latter shouted, “BJP’s fascist government down down,” before deboarding the plane. A video clip of Tamilisai confronting the student emerged a short while later.
Sofia was arrested following a complaint lodged against her, and was remanded to 15 days of judicial custody. Sofia was taken to the Thoothukudi General Hospital on Monday evening after complaining of stomach pain, and was subsequently granted bail on Tuesday.
TNM had contacted Tamilisai who justified her actions and alleged that Sofia’s actions and words were “suspicious” and that it didn’t seem like “an ordinary passenger’s behaviour.”