Anantapur MP J C Diwakar Reddy may have dragged his TDP colleague into trouble, as he has seemingly claimed that a word by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju may have got him a boarding pass two weeks ago.
Despite shouting at IndiGo officials, trying to throw a printer on the floor and pushing a senior airline official at the Visakhapatnam airport, after he turned up late, Reddy was still allowed to board his flight.
Ashok Gajapathi Raju was present at the airport during the incident, but denied helping the MP. He clarified that he had only asked the airport director to look into the matter by examining the CCTV footage.
The latest revelation comes after an alleged sting operation by Republic TV, which traced Reddy to his home town in Tadipatri in Andhra.
In the footage aired by the channel, Diwakar says that the Minister asked the airport director to “see his problem. That’s all.”
"I was a little emotional. Actually, I wanted to throw that printer. I could not do it. Slowly and gently, I put it on the table...I did not do any damage," he said.
When asked about the footage that showed him pushing a senior airline official, Reddy said, "It is true. It happened. Even after I requested him 2 to 3 times, he could not come out, as he was issuing tickets. Then I told the gentleman, that issuing boarding pass is in your hands. It is not controlled by your head office."
However, the man refused even after that, Reddy claimed.
"After some time, that manager and others came. They asked me to sit in a place. They went and they got it (boarding pass)," he added.
Speaking to TOI, Visakhapatnam airport director G Prakash Reddy had earlier denied that he forced IndiGo to issue a boarding pass, saying, “I was with the minister. Neither the minister nor I knew what happened at the IndiGo ticket counter. And later, after we learnt of the incident, Gajapathi Raju never told me to intervene on behalf of Diwakar Reddy."
Following the incident, IndiGo barred the 73-year-old businessman-politician from using its flights. Other domestic airlines including Air India, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir, AirAsia and Vistara also followed suit.
Even as the debate was raging over the unruly behaviour of the MP, he reportedly left for a vacation overseas along with his family.
However, it seems that he is back in the country now.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had also expressed unhappiness at the parliamentarian's behaviour, and had appealed to public leaders to exercise restraint.
Watch the sting below.