BJP Bhopal lawmaker Pragya Singh Thakur argues with the SpiceJet passengers

Angry passengers ask Thakur to change her seat while few passengers who were annoyed by the VIP attitude ask the crew to offload her

NEW DELHI| On Saturday BJP Bhopal lawmaker Pragya Singh Thakur caught on camera arguing with fellow passengers on a flight to Delhi. Pragya Thakur held up the Delhi-Bhopal SG2489 flight for about 45 minutes after she was asked by the crew to move to a non-emergency row seat as she was in a wheelchair but she refused.

Angry passengers requested Thakur to change her seat. Few passengers who were annoyed by the VIP attitude ask the crew to offload her, the SpiceJet spokesperson said.

The video went viral where passengers can be seen confronting the BJP MP and reminding her that she is people’s representative and her job is not to “trouble them”. As the arguments escalate, Thakur is heard saying: “I said it at the beginning itself that show me your rulebook. If I don’t feel comfortable, I will go.”

Replaying to her statement a man tells her: “You are people’s representative. Your job is not to trouble us. You should come by the next flight.”

Thakur then argues why she should go when there is “no first class, no facilities”, only to get a retort from him that “first-class is not her right”. “You should have the moral compass that even if one person is getting troubled because of you, you should own up because you are the leader. You are not ashamed that you have held 50 people at ransom,” the man tells her.

When Thakur complains about the language used, the flyer replied: “I am using absolutely correct language.”

Annoyed with the airlines Pragya Thakur filed a complaint with the Bhopal Airport director alleging that she was not allotted the seat that she had booked on the flight and the conduct of the airline crew was not right.

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On Sunday clearing the air, Spicejet issued a note saying Thakur was not allowed to sit on the pre-allotted seat as rules do not allow a ‘passenger on wheelchairs’ to be seated in the emergency row due to safety reasons.

“SpiceJet had the privilege to have Pragya Thakur on board on December 21. She had pre-booked seat 1A and had come to the airport in her own wheelchair. The Delhi Bhopal flight is operated by Bombardier Q400 aircraft (78 seats). On this aircraft, the first row is the emergency row seat and is not allocated to passengers on wheelchairs,” the statement by SpiceJet read.

Twitter, meanwhile, hailed the passenger for confronting the leader.