Rowdy Gaikwad: Hitting a 60 year old is not machoism

Gaikwad even went on to rant that he had held up the plane for an hour and did not allow the staff to clean the aircraft

It was rowdyism at its best. Brazen, brash and no fear of the law as he was a lawmaker himself. This Shiv Sena Member of Parliament, Ravindra Gaikwad was upset that he was not able to fly business class on an Air India flight to Delhi. When the 60-year-old duty manager told him to disembark for creating a scene, Gaikwad as per his own confession hit him 25 times with a sandal.

Meanwhile, in a joint statement issued by Air India and the member airlines of the Federation of Indian Airlines that includes IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Go Air, have decided to ban Gaikwad from flying on all the flights with immediate effect.

[VIP highhandedness: Shiv Sena MP assaults Air India staff]

One would have expected an apology from Gaikwad for assaulting a senior citizen. Instead, he bragged on national television about his machoism. He went a step ahead and said that the duty manager threatened to complain to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am a Shiv Sena MP, not from the BJP to tolerate his abuses," Gaikwad said. He ranted on that he had held up the plane for an hour and did not allow the staff to clean the aircraft.

Gaikwad's rowdy ways are nothing new. He had once shoved a stale chapati down a fasting Muslim caterer while complaining about the food served at the Maharashtra Sadan.

While there is so much video evidence to show what Gaikwad actually did, the Shiv Sena is still seeking other versions. A meek statement from the Sena was issued in which it was said that the party does not condone violence of any kind. Will the Sena act? It is doubtful considering that it did not after the incident at the Maharashtra Sadan.

OneIndia News