TDP MP drags own minister Raju to court

any alternate mode of transport than airlines for my domestic travelling. Hence, I urge the HC to declare the ban on my travel by nine domestic airlines since June 16 as illegal.” The MP also mentioned in his petition that the Union Civil Aviation Minister was present at the Visakhapatnam airport when the incident took place.

TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu did his best to avoid a fracas between the MP and the airlines by trying to persuade him to tender an apology to the aggrieved air staff, but the latter refused to budge from his stand that he had not done any wrong and there was no need for any apology.

Naidu sent TDP’s senior MP CM Ramesh to Diwakar Reddy to see to it that the issue was not blown out of proportion. But Diwakar Reddy even threatened to resign from his MP post, if he was forced to apologise to the IndiGo staff. Diwakar Reddy is a senior leader with over three decades of standing in politics, mostly in Congress, until 2014, and is a tough nut to crack for TDP leaders.

Naidu is concerned that a situation may arise in Parliament where Gajapathi Raju is seen arguing against his own party MP.

Sources close to Diwakar Reddy told this newspaper on Saturday that they were hoping that the MP would use the Lok Sabha as a forum to express his regrets, in connection with the incident. “We hope that will settle the issue and he will be allowed to fly,” said a source close to Diwakar Reddy. The case will come up for hearing in the HC by 31 July.