An eyewitness said Chief Minister of Punjab boarded the flight ‘totally drunk’
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had to skip his scheduled flight from Frankfurt to Delhi last-minute on Sunday as he was allegedly deplaned for being in an inebriated state.
A report by The Hindu said that Mann, who was on a trip to Germany from 11 to 18 September, delayed his departure as he was reportedly unwell.
The report quoted sources saying that Mann and his team of officials did not board the booked flight as per the schedule. They were dropped at the Frankfurt airport by cabs, but the India Consulate reportedly again called the cabs to pick Punjab CM Mann from the airport as he did not board the aeroplane.
“Mr. Mann was a little unwell and he would catch a flight later tonight from Frankfurt and would be back,” AAP’s director of media communication Chander Suta Dogra said.
Social media claims Mann deplaned at Frankfurt for being drunk
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been strongly denying the allegations of political opponents that Mann was deplaned at Frankfurt airport because of being inebriated. They have termed it false and frivolous, but an eyewitness of Lufthansa’s LH 760 to Delhi from Frankfurt said, “Punjab chief minister (Bhagwant Mann) apparently deplaned at Frankfurt for being drunk.”J
An Indian co-passenger on the same flight, who did not wish to be named, alleged in a communication with indianarrative.com that, “the Chief Minister was not steady on his feet as he had imbibed excessive alcohol and had to be supported by his wife and security personnel accompanying him.”
The passenger said the departure of the flight was delayed by over 4 hours as the luggage of the CM’s entourage which was loaded on the plane had to be taken off. Punjab government officials tried to prevail upon the Lufthansa flight crew not to deplane Mann as he had to attend many important meetings fixed on the next day but they refused to compromise on their flight safety rules, he added.
It’s interesting to note that state government representatives have been asserting that the CM’s inability to join the flight from Germany to the United States was due to an urgent medical issue.
Mann had gone to Germany on September 11 and was to return on September 18.
