Dubai-based Indian businessman and MP P.V. Abdul Wahab said on Tuesday he will raise the issue of his forced disembarkment from a domestic flight by state carrier Air India in India’s Parliament.
Abdul Wahab, a member of upper house of parliament Rajya Sabha, said he was forced to get off the Kerala-based flight on Monday morning after an argument with the flight captain Rajat Rana, Times of India reported.
“I will take up the matter with my chairman of Rajya Sabha and move a privilege motion against the pilot,” said Abdul Wahab, referring to raising the issue as a matter of great urgency and importance in parliament.
A tycoon with diversified real estate and shipping interests in the Gulf, Abdul Wahab was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2004 as a member of the Indian Union Muslim League political party. At the time, he said he was worth over $32 million.
Flying en-route to Dubai, Abdul Wahab said he had arrived well in advance to catch the Monday flight between the Keralite cities of Kozhikode and Kochi, which was running 20 minutes late from Bahrain, but had been delayed himself after being taken from the VIP lounge at the airport to the airplane.
“The captain, Rajat Rana, got into an argument with the duty manager who was accompanying me,” said Abdul Wahab when he tried boarding the plane.
Abdul Wahab said that when he tried to intervene, the pilot said it was none of his business, and insisted he would not take off unless the MP was taken off the flight.
“I think the pilot was trying to make up the 20-minute delay [from Bahrain] which was why this incident happened,” said Abdul Wahab, who was then put on to another Air India flight from Kozhikode to Dubai.
Rajat Rana, the pilot of the plane, maintains that he wanted to depart on-time for the sake of the other passengers.
“I have not done anything wrong in deplaning MP Wahab,” said Rana, reported the Times of India. “The decision to order Wahab off the plane was in passenger interest.”
Some sources claim the plane’s depature was delayed because Abdul Wahab and his kin tried to board the plane 15 minutes after its scheduled departure time. Rana then summoned the local airport manager, who entered the aircraft with the MP, and told them that the plane would not depart until Abdul Wahab removed himself.
Srinivasan Rajachandrasekhar, the manager of Kozhikode airport in Kerala, has said an investigation will be launched into the incident.
“There was an argument between Abdul Wahab and Captain Rajat Rana – in the end, Abdul Wahab volunteered to get down from the flight,” said Rajachandrasekhar. “Air India will launch an investigation into the incident.”
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