Ravindra Gaikwad of the Shiv Sena party representing Maharashtra's Osmanabad Lok Sabha constituency hit a 60-year-old Air India duty officer with his slippers, at least 25 times by his own admission, when the officer went to persuade him to alight from the flight from Pune to New Delhi. Gaikwad had held up the aircraft for over 40 minutes.

In reaction to the assault, at least four private airlines and Air India, the state-owned carrier, on Friday barred Gaikwad from flying. His return ticket to Pune from New Delhi was also cancelled.

In addition, Air India lodged a police complaint against the parliamentarian on two counts — one for assaulting its employee, and second, for holding up the aircraft. Delhi Police is probing the case.

"The MP turned violent, broke the duty manager's spectacles, tore his shirt, hit him with slippers 16-17 times," an Air India spokesperson said.

Politicians of all major political parties in India criticized the conduct of the parliamentarian. Speaking to the media, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said parliament cannot take suo moto cognizance of the incident and take any kind of disciplinary action against him

Gaikwad's party, the Shiv Sena, has also sought a report from him. "The party has sought an explanation from Gaikwad over the incident. The Sena does not condone violence of any kind. We have also sought a version of the incident from the Air India staffer.

The Sena has a workers' union in Air India," Harshal Pradhan, media adviser to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, told reporters.

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