Two Youth Congress leaders were arrested in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday for violating air safety regulations by raising slogans and rushing towards Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on board a commercial flight on Monday.
A CPM leader blocked the aisle and pushed back Kannur district Youth Congress secretary Naveen Kumar and Mattannur block president Farzeen Majeed. A video clip showed Kumar and Majeed shouting slogans demanding the chief minister’s resignation on board an IndiGo flight from Kannur soon after it landed.
Senior CPM leader and Left Democratic Front convenor E.P. Jayarajan could be seen blocking the aisle to stop the protesters.
Apparently part of the ongoing protests against Vijayan over allegations raised by Swapna Suresh, a prime accused in a gold smuggling case, of involvement of the chief minister and his family, the ruckus on board the commercial flight has raised questions about passenger safety.
Images aired by Malayalam news channels showed security personnel of the airline surrounding the two men who were seen squatting on the tarmac next to the ladder after being de-boarded. The Central Industrial Security Force, which looks after airport security, took them into custody before handing them over to the local police.
“Only terrorist outfits have carried out this kind of activities in Indian history…. Tomorrow they will hurl bombs,” Jayarajan told a media conference, insisting that “their objective was to attack the chief minister”.
“They were reeking of alcohol and couldn’t even speak properly,” he said, accusing the Congress leadership of instigating the gross violation of safety norms on a commercial jet.
“The passengers were getting ready to alight from the aircraft. The chief minister had just stood up when these people, who were seated somewhere in the front, rushed to him,” Jayarajan recalled.
“They were drunk and couldn’t even speak legibly. They were sent (on the flight) after they got drunk,” he said.
“The Congress has taken the path of terrorism by not allowing a chief minister to travel even by air,” Jayarajan said, referring to protesters earlier blocking Vijayan across the state.
Asked how sure he was about senior Congress leaders’ involvement in the plane protest, Jayarajan said: “Can such an incident happen without the knowledge of their senior leaders?”
