JOIN USTrinamool Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Dola Sen was caught in a controversy on Friday following claims by Air India that she delayed a Delhi-Kolkata flight by around 40 minutes over disputes on the seating arrangement.
Dola had booked seats for herself and her mother on an Air India flight to Kolkata scheduled for Friday afternoon. The MP had booked a ticket for her mother in the front row so that she gets enough leg space.
The airline said that as the seat was near the emergency exit, it could be allotted only to physically fit passengers as per the rules. The national carrier said that although Dola had paid extra for the required seats, while booking the tickets through a travel portal, she had not informed them that a wheelchair-bound passenger would be travelling.
The crew requested her that her mother be shifted to another seat. According to the airline, Sen objected to it as she had paid extra for the front row seats. An airline official said the MP started screaming at the crew even though they offered her mother a business class seat, which she refused.