Oppn sees plot to kill Mamata in plane delay

AGE CORRESPONDENT WITH AGENCY INPUTS

Published : Dec 1, 2016, 11:30 am IST

Updated : Dec 1, 2016, 7:44 pm IST

'When there is no fuel, it’s the duty of ATC to have allowed landing of Mamata Banerjee's flight, her life is in danger,

New Delhi: The Opposition parties on Thursday caused uproar in both Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha over the delay in landing of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s flight on Wednesday night and once again raked up the issue of demonetisation.

The Opposition in Rajya Sabha demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was present in the House, speak on the note ban. While Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day following uproar, the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm as Opposition demanded an apology from Modi for allegedly accusing them of supporting black money.

The TMC and the Congress had earlier raised the issue of Banerjee's safety over the incident on Wednesday. TMC had alleged the IndiGo flight with the chief minister on board hovered in the sky for over 30 minutes before landing at the NSCBI Airport in Kolkata though it was short on fuel. The party claimed it was a conspiracy to kill her.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju refuted the allegations and said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had ordered an inquiry into the incident.

“Wrong to say the IndiGo flight was made to hover for 30-40 minutes. DGCA has ordered an inquiry to check how three flights to Kolkata reported low fuel,” Raju said in Lok Sabha.

The Congress too raised the issue of the West Bengal Chief Minister's safety.

“When there is no fuel, it’s the duty of the ATC to have allowed the landing. Her life was in danger,” Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge said in the Lok Sabha.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad raised this issue in Rajya Sabha, saying, "The aircraft should have been given priority, this is a serious issue, should carry out investigations."

Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, in the Rajya Sabha, said the DGCA will investigate the allegation of shortage of fuel in three flights to Kolkata, including the one in which Banerjee was flying.

Meanwhile, IndiGo said the flight from Patna to Kolkata, with Banerjee on board, had landed normally at Kolkata airport. The flight was kept on hold due to air traffic, the airline said.