“Vanakkam. Vazhga Tamil Nadu. I am travelling to Coimbatore in an Indigo flight. I am sitting near the emergency exit. But, I am not going to open it. If I open it, I will have to write an apology letter.” This is from the video of Lok Sabha MP Dayanidhi Maran, taking a dig at his parliament colleague Tejaswi Surya who recently opened the emergency exit door of an Indigo flight.
Sitting next to the emergency exit door in an aircraft, with a subtle smile on his face, Maran is seen showing the exit door and explaining why he would not open it. In the 30-second video in English and a 20-second video in Tamil, posted on his Twitter handle, Maran is heard saying, “No person with self-awareness would do this.”
Maran was taking a dig at Tejasvi Surya, who on December 10, opened the emergency exit door in an Indigo flight and it led to an inadvertent delay in the flight's take off. Reportedly, the passengers were asked to deboard the aircraft and then board again after pressurising the aircraft.
Tamil Nadu BJP Chief K. Annamalai and Surya were travelling from Chennai to Tiruchirappalli in an ATR 72-600. Surya, according to Annamalai, accidentally touched the emergency door while adjusting the AC vent. The civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had earlier clarified that Surya opened the door by mistake and later apologised to the passengers.
However, the emergency exit door episode has become a hot topic in Tamil Nadu's political circles. Earlier, electricity minister V. Senthil Balaji had posted a tweet calling the duo- Surya and Annamalai - “over enthusiasts” He even tweeted saying, “A liar who said sporting a foreign watch is patriotism might even say that he opened the door to breathe the air of freedom.”
