Fadnavis denies he delayed AI flight

Terming reports about him delaying an Air India flight as "misleading", Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said he will initiate proceedings of criminal defamation after his return to India.
"I reiterate, the reports of me delaying flight are misleading. In fact when I'd already boarded, how can I say I won't travel without delegation?" Fadnavis, who is on a week-long tour of USA, posted on Twitter.
"If at all any report that has been submitted states that I refused to travel without my delegation then it is a blatant lie, because passengers sitting besides & behind me are witness that I was sitting quietly waiting for departure. Not even once I asked to offload me.

"Enough is enough. Once I (a)m back to India I will initiate proceedings of criminal defamation," the Chief Minister said in a series of tweets.
As per the Air India, flight AI191 to Newark from Mumbai was delayed by 57 minutes partly due to technical/operational reasons, and also the ATC.
The incident took place on Monday when Fadnavis was leaving on week-long visit to the US along with Industries Minister Subhash Desai, Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya and Principal Secretary Pravin Pardeshi.
As per the media reports, Pardeshi was cleared at the check-in, but was held back as the passport he was carrying did not have a valid US visa. He had a valid US visa on his old passport. He arranged to bring his old passport after which he was allowed to proceed to the aircraft.

Congress has targeted Fadnavis over the issue, with former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today demanding that he should apologise if he had caused the delay.