Union Minister Shivraj Chouhan Says He Was Allotted ‘Broken’ Seat; Air India Asked To Take Action

New Delhi: Union minister of Agriculture, Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took to social media on Saturday to highlight his ordeal on an Air India flight from Bhopal to New Delhi.

In a post on X, Chouhan claimed he was allotted a ‘broken’ seat and that he refused to swap seats with fellow passengers.

Responding to Chouhan’s complaint, Civil Aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that his ministry has raised the issue with Air India and instructed the airline to take necessary action.

“The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will also look into the matter promptly and file a report. I have spoken to Shivraj Ji personally after going through his post,” Naidu said.

Chouhan said he believed Air India’s services have improved after it was taken over by the Tatas.

“I was mistaken,” Chouhan wrote.

According to Chouhan, he was travelling to New Delhi to inaugurate the Kisan Mela at Pusa and attend meetings at Kurukshetra and Chandigarh. He was allotted seat 8C on Air India flight AI436.

“On reaching my seat, I realised that it was broken and the cushion sagged. It was extremely uncomfortable. When I asked the flight attendants how the seat had been allotted when they were aware of its pitiful condition, they said that they had informed the management beforehand. They claimed that they had even urged the management not to allot the seat. They also said that there were other seats in the aircraft that were in similar condition,” Chouhan stated.

He claimed that co-passengers offered to exchange their seats with him, but he refused.

“Why should I make somebody else suffer in my place? I decided to travel on the seat allotted to me. I am not complaining about my personal discomfort but believe that it is unfair of the airlines to make any passenger travel on a broken and uncomfortable seat, even after collecting the full fare. Isn’t this a form of cheating,” the veteran politician posted.