Kiren Rijiju passes the buck on Air India, says was not aware of passengers being de-boarded for him

Even as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is in the middle of a controversy over delaying a flight, another Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union Minister, Kiren Rijiju, is facing flak for a similar case.

National aviation carrier Air India reportedly offloaded an Indian Air Force officer, his wife and child to accommodate the Minister of State for Home Affairs on a Leh-Delhi flight.

The three were offloaded by Air India as Rijiju was accompanied by his assistant and Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh.

The MoS Homes has, however, denied any role in the incident. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Rijiju claimed that he was not 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.

Earlier, reports had said that the aircraft doors were shut for takeoff on June 24 but the flight did not depart at its scheduled time as Rijiju, along ith his PA, had to be onboard.

Air India had said that it had sought more details on the incident.

(With PTI Inputs)