Over two weeks after he was blacklisted and grounded by all airlines, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad here on Monday morning took wings again on a Pune-New Delhi flight, authorities said.
Reduced to train and road travel and avoiding the media glare till now, the Osmanabad MP took the Pune-New Delhi AI-852, which has now made a provision for business class travel on this particular service.
Incidentally, on 23 March it was the same flight AI-852 which did not offer business class that day leading to a serious verbal and physical altercation with the airline staffers.
It culminated in the assault of a senior official, two police complaints lodged against him, blacklisting him, slapping a complete flying ban besides ruckus by Shiv Sena in the Parliament and a face-off between the two ruling BJP-led NDA constituents.
Last week, after Gaikwad tendered a letter expressing ‘regret’ over the incident to Civil Aviation Minister A Gajapathi Raju, AI revoked the flying ban on Saturday, closely followed by Federation of Indian Airlines and other private airlines.
The government's moves came following threats that the Shiv Sena, a member of the ruling NDA, would boycott the critical meet to discuss the nominee for next President.
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