Mumbai: Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad, who made headlines for hitting an Air India staffer with a slipper, has been denied a party ticket for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The party, which released its list of candidates on Friday, has replaced him with Omraje Nimbalkar in the Osmanabad constituency.
In March 2017, Gaikwad misbehaved with an Air India ground staff member at the Delhi airport. A video footage showed him hitting the staffer at least 25 times with his slipper. His action drew widespread condemnation, forcing the airline to impose a travel ban on him.
The Air India Crew Association described Gaikwad as a “flight risk”. Other airlines had also imposed a ban on him. The issue had snowballed into a major controversy and had taken place at a time when the budget session of the Parliament was in session.
None of the airlines was willing to fly him again. However, the ban was lifted at the intervention of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Gaikwad, however, never apologised to Air India for the incident though he regretted his action in Parliament. Shiv Sena is an NDA ally.
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