BJP Tamil Nadu chief Annamalai contradicts civil aviation minister in Tejasvi Surya emergency exit row

“We called the air hostess and showed it, and then the pilot was called. The due procedure was followed to fix the door and re-pressurise the aircraft,” K Annamalai, Tamil Nadu BJP President told reporters in Karnataka on Thursday, 19 January.

Annamalai was seated next to Tejasvi Surya on the Indigo flight from Chennai to Trichy on 10 December, 2022.

For weeks, the incident had gone unreported and unacknowledged. While the authorities, including the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation Ministry itself, had kept mum about the issue for several weeks, South First‘s reportage compelled the DGCA and Indigo airlines to issue official statements acknowledging the violation of air safety norms.

A day after @JM_Scindia said BJP MP @Tejasvi_Surya opened emergency exit of flight but by mistake & apologised, @BJP4TamilNadu president @annamalai_k says the BJP Yuva Morcha president neither opened the exit nor apologised.@DGCAIndia & @IndiGo6E too said door was opened. https://t.co/4231PSa5q5 pic.twitter.com/18qLPD7ljz

— Anusha Ravi Sood (@anusharavi10) January 19, 2023

‘Tejasvi didn’t pull anything’

“Tejasvi wrote an incident report detailing what had happened, where his hand was, etc. Tejasvi didn’t pull anything. He is a frequent flyer, he is educated; why would he pull anything like that? It takes a lot of rotating to open that door. It is not possible. That door, while placing his hand, slightly opened. Karnataka media says Tejasvi apologised, but he did not,” Annamalai added.

Annamalai’s statement contradicts Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s confirmation that Tejasvi Surya did open the emergency exit door, but by mistake, and the BJP MP even apologised for the same.

Scindia issued that statement at least twice on Wednesday.

Annamalai, in his statement to the media first said Tejasvi Surya didn’t open the door but later added that it “slightly opened up”. He first said Tejasvi Surya didn’t apologise but added that he apologised to passengers “despite not being at fault”.

“As an MP holding a responsible position, Tejasvi, although he was not at fault, apologised to passengers since the flight was delayed by an hour. He said sorry because he was sitting in that seat. This is an attempt to play politics by our political opponents. If Indigo makes the incident report form public, we will know that Tejasvi was sitting in the emergency seat and was resting his hand on the emergency door and it slightly opened. I am witness to it. All the passengers saw this,” K Annamalai said.