Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia promised to look into allegations that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was deplaned from an international flight for being intoxicated. The allegations have been denied by the Aam Aadmi Party, even as other political parties clamour for a probe into the matter.
“This was an incident on international soil. We will have to make sure that we verify the facts. It is up to Lufthansa airline to provide the data. Based on the request that has been sent to me, I will certainly look into it,” Scindia said today.
Mann returned from his eight-day trip from Germany on Monday. He had gone to attract investments.
Earlier on Monday, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had claimed that the CM was deplaned from a Delhi-bound Lufthansa flight at the Frankfurt airport because he was in an inebriated state. The senior politician claimed that this in turn had led to a led to a 4-hour flight delay, with Mann missing the AAP’s national convention. Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa had also sought an inquiry into the matter and shot off a letter to Scindia.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa airlines has claimed that the flight delay in question was due to an aircraft change.
“Our flight from Frankfurt to Delhi departed later than originally planned due to a delayed inbound flight and an aircraft change…For data protection reasons we do not provide any information regarding individual passengers,” the carrier tweeted in response to queries on social media.
