Amid reports of Punjab Chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s deplaning from a Delhi-bound Lufthansa flight citing an inebriated state, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa has written to Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia demanding an inquiry.
Bajwa, in a letter to Scindia, said, “News streaming on social media that Bhagwant Mann was offloaded along with his entourage from a Lufthansa flight on Saturday, 17th instant, at Frankfurt Airport, since he was found to be in an inebriated state and declared unfit to travel, is doing the rounds.”
“If it were true, it certainly is a bad reflection on the office Bhagwant Maan is holding. Therefore, I would kindly initiate an inquiry for verification of this news from Lufthansa Airlines as it involves not only an individual but the office he represents, and such conduct deserves to be deprecated,” the Congress MLA from Qadian wrote.
His demand for the inquiry came amid the media reports that Mann was not in a position to travel owing to some ‘obvious and embarrassing reasons’, because of which the flight was delayed for four hours as the luggage had to be taken out from the flight.
However, Lufthansa in a statement said, “Our flight from Frankfurt to Delhi departed later than originally planned due to a delayed inbound flight and an aircraft change.”
The company also said that, for data protection reasons, “we do not provide any information regarding individual passengers.”