BHUBANESWAR: Unruly behaviour allegedly by a few BJD leaders at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Sunday night created an embarrassing situation for the ruling party. The incident occurred when the party leaders reportedly tried to forcibly check in to an Indigo flight even after the boarding time was over. The leaders allegedly reached late after the check in was over and created unruly scenes demanding they should be allowed to board the aircraft.
The flight scheduled to depart from New Delhi at 8.20 pm and reach Bhubaneswar at 10.30 pm was delayed by half-an-hour due to the incident.The leaders including some office-bearers of party’s frontal organisations were returning to Bhubaneswar after attending a ceremony where Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was conferred the Capital Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday.
Different versions have emerged on what happened at the airport lounge and why the ruling party leaders were unable to board the flight though they were present at the airport. It is alleged they were drunk. One of the senior leaders had to pursue the unruly bunch and convince them to board the flight. BJD general secretary in-charge of student and youth wings and Dharmasala MLA Pranab Balabantray who was in the fight dismissed the reports and said no such incident happened.
However, Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) president Byomakesh Ray said some leaders of the party’s frontal organisations had an altercation with the airport staff when they were not allowed to board the aircraft. He also dismissed reports that the leaders were in an inebriated condition. “Nobody was in an inebriated condition. Some women party activists were also there,” he added. Former Minister Arun Sahoo also admitted that some leaders were denied boarding the aircraft.“It was a very silly incident,” he added.