New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann met Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal after he arrived Monday from Germany amid a political row triggered by his last-minute rescheduling of flight the previous day.
The opposition leaders, meanwhile, kept their pressure on the Punjab chief minister whom they had claimed was “too drunk to walk”.
According to an AAP insider, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha was present at the meeting that took place at the Delhi chief minister’s residence in Civil Lines. Later, AAP spokespersons said the meeting was “personal”, and dismissed as “baseless” the allegations that Mann was deplaned for being drunk.
“Disturbing media reports quoting co-passengers say Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann was deplaned from Lufthansa flight as he was too drunk to walk. And it led to a 4-hour flight delay. He missed AAP’s national convention. These reports have embarrassed & shamed Punjabis all over the globe,” Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal tweeted.
“Shockingly, Punjab govt is mum over these reports involving their CM Bhagwant Mann. And Arvind Kejriwal needs to come clean on this issue. The Government of India must step in as this involves Punjabi and national pride. If he was deplaned, the Government of India must raise the issue with its German counterpart [sic],” Badal tweeted, citing a news report.
Senior Congress leader and Punjab’s Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa demanded an inquiry to clear the controversy surrounding the episode. “Mr Mann went for the Germany tour spending public money. So, there is a question of accountability. We have learnt that he was not allowed to board the flight to Delhi. There should be an inquiry into it to throw light on the circumstances under which such a decision was taken,” he told a press conference in Chandigarh.
The Germany tour — Mann’s first foreign visit after he became the chief minister in March — was scheduled from 11 September to 18 September.
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Flight controversy
Mann went for a last-minute reschedule of his flight from Frankfurt, The Hindu reported, citing an AAP spokesperson who stated that the CM was “unwell”.
The report cited an unnamed eye witness in Lufthansa’s LH 760 who noticed a person wearing a white kurta-pyjama “resembling” Mann entering the aircraft along with other passengers but soon seen leaving it. “The pilot later announced that some passengers had to leave and that there would be a slight delay as their baggage was being removed from the plane,” it said.
According to the report, Mann and a team of officials accompanying him went to the airport in cabs. However, the India Consulate reportedly again informed the cab staff to pick up Mann from the airport because he did not board the scheduled airplane.
ThePrint reached out to Lufthansa with specific questions, including whether any passenger was deplaned from the Sunday flight. “Our flight from Frankfurt from 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,” a Lufthansa spokesperson said.
ThePrint also sent an e-mail to the office of the Consulate General of India in Frankfurt. The article will be updated when a response is received.
Dismissing the allegations that Mann was deplaned because of his inebriated state, AAP Punjab spokesperson Malwinder Kang said the political rivals were spreading rumours to defame the Punjab chief minister.
“These are all baseless allegations. Political opponents are spreading these rumours to defame our CM. They are jealous that the CM is working hard to get investments in Punjab. Such misleading comments from political opponents are unethical. Now that the airline has issued a statement, these political leaders should apologise,” Kang said in a press conference in Chandigarh.
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Packed schedule in Germany
Mann was supposed to return on Sunday night but returned Monday morning, said a Punjab government official without disclosing reasons for the delay.
The CM stayed in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich and met business delegations and executives from prominent companies to bring investments and to attract strategic agreements in key sectors such as renewable energy, car manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and advanced agriculture practices, said the official.
“During the visit, Mann attended an auto-fair, a pharma event and a beverage trade fair, ‘Drinktech-2022’, apart from meeting executives of German Agribusiness Alliance and seeking its support for sustainable development of the agri-food sector in Punjab. He also met the CEO of a prominent bio-energy giant whose Indian subsidiary recently commissioned one of the largest biofuel production units at Sangrur,” the official added.
Mann also met senior BMW executives following which the Punjab government announced that the German automobile major has agreed to set up its auto part manufacturing unit in the state. But the AAP government was left red-faced when the company said it has no plans for setting up additional manufacturing operations in Punjab.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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