Gaikwad fly ban issue: Airline cos behaving like 'goons', says Sena

The Shiv Sena on Thursday said airline companies were behaving like "goons" by letting terrorists take flights but imposing restrictions on the common man as it remained defiant on domestic airlines' blanket ban on its MP Ravindra Gaikwad.

The Shiv Sena MPs, ahead of their meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on the fly banissue, said that dictatorship has not yet started in the country and asked whether Air India will first tender an apology to the MP as they had started misbehaving first.

"What has he (Gaikwad) done? The behaviour of the airline companies is like mafia and goons. In your companies, what is happening under your chair, you should see that. I would not say much as we are now going to meet the Lok Sabha speaker.

"But an FIR has been lodged against the MP. The MP has also lodged an FIR. The investigation is going on," party leader Sanjay Raut told reporters outside the Parliament.

Asked whether there should be a fly ban on Gaikwad, he said, "There should not be a fly ban on him. Is he a terrorist? Terrorists, underworld dons, corrupt people can fly in your airlines, but an MP, who is a common man, he would not fly."

Raut, however, did not provide any evidence of such people flying in the airlines.