MP slaps rival for not boarding same flight

NEW DELHI: The rivalry between Tamil Nadu’s big parties — the AIADMK and DMK—led to a scuffle between two parliamentarians at the Delhi airport on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: The rivalry between Tamil Nadu’s big parties — the AIADMK and DMK—led to a scuffle between two parliamentarians at the Delhi airport on Saturday.

HT Image

Sasikala Pushpa, an MP of the state’s ruling AIADMK party, slapped DMK parliamentarian Tiruchi Siva after he refused to travel in the same aircraft, airport security officials said. The two, both Rajya Sabha members, were scheduled to fly to Chennai.

Airline officials said Siva requested to be offloaded because he didn’t want to share an aircraft with Pushpa. Seeing Siva emerge from the security hold area, the upset AIADMK MP ran towards him and slapped him.

Security personnel separated them before things got out of hand. While Siva left the airport without lodging a complaint, Pushpa proceeded on her journey.

“The matter can also be probed by a panel if any MP lodges a formal complaint with the House chairman,” a Rajya Sabha official said. Neither Siva nor Pushpa could be reached over the phone.

AIADMK and DMK MPs don’t even talk to each other in Parliament.