'Aam aadmi' Ravindra Gaikwad plans to take train back to Mumbai

Losing His 'Cool', Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad Attacks AI Staffer With Slipper , Leaving from the Parliament on 23march 2017. Express photo by Renuka Puri.

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad plans to take the Rajdhani back to Mumbai despite his flying ban being lifted as he feels he is "an aam aadmi" (common man).

On March 23, Gaikwad had hit an Air India staffer with a slipper 25 times because he was shifted to the economy class. In the aftermath on the incident, the national carrier and a few private airlines had imposed a ban on him.

Earlier this week, Gaikwad had reached the national capital by train. Gaikwad boarded the the Mumbai-Rajdhani Express to reach Delhi, a railway official said. Gaikwad had also used the Mumbai-Rajdhani Express to return to Mumbai last week.

Last week, speaking publicly for the first time after he was banned by major airlines for assaulting the airline's staffer, Gaikwad had claimed his innocence and said he was a victim of a media trial.

"I am not guilty, I have not done anything wrong," Gaikwad, an MP from Osamanabad in Maharashtra, told the Lok Sabha.

He claimed that he did not thrash anyone and did not create any ruckus inside the aircraft, but had merely given his seat in the business class to a senior citizen. He alleged Air India management changed the story.

In reply to his claims, Ashok Gajapati Raju, Civil Aviation Minister, said safety in the flight was compromised.

"Aircraft are machine on which people fly and safety is paramount which can never be compromised," said the Aviation Minister.

However, the ban on Gaikwad was revoked last Friday after the intervention of the Civil Aviation Ministry as the Shiv Sena had threatened to boycott a National Democratic Alliance dinner. Four private carriers also lifted the ban on the Osmanabad lawmaker.