Bengaluru: A scuffle broke out between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and officials of IndiGo at the Dumna Airport in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur Friday during the launch of a new flight route by the airline.
A video shared by journalist Tarun Shukla on Twitter showed that the party workers and the airline’s representatives came to blows at the launch, forcing police officers at the airport to intervene.
Pandemonium :
– IndiGo's Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh flight launch by @MoCA_GoI goes bonkers
– @IndiGo6E representatives and BJP workers broke into a fight at the @AAI_Official airport itself alleging poor arrangements, no place to sit – not even drinking water.
Video : pic.twitter.com/ujPWaeLHKw
— Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) August 20, 2021
According to a News18 report, the uproar was caused because of the inadequate arrangements at the airport, including lack of drinking water and chairs.
The report noted that G.S. Thakur, president of the BJP’s Jabalpur wing, and vice-president Jai Sachdeva took offence at the lack of arrangements and the situation escalated when they took it up with IndiGo officials. Videos of the incident have since gone viral on social media.
The BJP leaders had gathered at the airport for the launch of a new IndiGo flight on the Jabalpur-Delhi route, which was flagged off by Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan after the scuffle.
“It gives me immense pleasure to announce that in the last 35 days we have commenced operations of 44 new flights in Madhya Pradesh, out of which 26 aircraft movements have been attributed solely to Jabalpur,” said Scindia, at the launch.
A Rs 421-crore scheme has also been approved for the development of the airport, which will include the construction of a new 10,000 square feet terminal building, a new air traffic control tower and the extension of the runway from 1,950 to 2,750 metres.
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