India’s ruling BJP lawmaker in row after drunk son barred from boarding flight

NEW DELHI: The deputy chief minister of the western Indian state of Gujarat, Nitin Patel, has landed into a controversy after his son was rejected to board an international flight for being drunk, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

Alcohol is completely banned in Gujarat, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's homestate. Patel, 60, is a senior leader of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP), which also rules Gujarat.

The incident reportedly took place Monday morning when the deputy chief minister's son Jaiman Patel went to the international airport in the city of Ahmedabad to board a Qatar Airways flight to Greece on a family vacation, along with his family.

Jaiman, along with his wife and daughter, was reportedly stopped from boarding the flight as he had argued with the airline staff in a heavily drunken state.

The deputy chief minister has accused the opposition parties of planting stories, saying it was a ploy to defame him.

“My son, his wife and daughter were going for a vacation. He was not feeling well.

“His wife called up home and then it was decided to return home and not proceed. Our opponents are trying to tarnish our image by spreading false and mischievous information,” he told the media.

Neither the airline nor the BJP has commented on the matter yet.