"A Flight To Remember": When An MP Is Flown By Another MP

DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran in a tweet thread narrated how he ran into his parliamentary colleague and BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy - and why he thought it was an interesting meet. The DMK leader titled the thread "A Flight to Remember."

Mr Maran had boarded an IndiGo flight to go from Delhi to Chennai, after attending a meeting of the parliamentary estimates committee. Soon, someone came to speak with him.

"'So you are traveling in this flight as well!' said a person dressed in the Captain's uniform.  I could not recognise him with his mask on, although his voice sounded familiar. I nodded my head, still wondering who it could be. He looked at me and his eyes gave away the smile behind the mask. 'So you don't recognize me!'" Mr Maran tweeted.

"I realised then that it was none other than my colleague, senior Member of Parliament and former Union Minister - my very good friend Thiru @RajivPratapRudy Just two hours ago, he and I were part of intense discussions at the Estimates Committee and now I couldn't believe my eyes, seeing his transformation from a politician to a pilot," Mr Maran tweeted.

"How often does a sitting Member of Parliament captain a commercial flight? I'm sure I will be talking about this for a long time. Thank you Captain @RajivPratapRudy MP for flying us safely from Delhi to Chennai!" the DMK leader tweeted.

I was pleasantly surprised and told Rudyji that I couldn't believe that he was going to be the captain flying us from Delhi to Chennai. He laughed and said "Yes, I noticed that you didn't recognize me, I fly frequently!"

5/7

— Dayanidhi Maran தயாநிதி மாறன் (@Dayanidhi_Maran) July 13, 2021

Mr Rudy flies Airbus A320-321. He was Civil Aviation Minister in 2003. This is his fourth term as an MP in the Lok Sabha, in addition to having been elected twice to the Rajya Sabha from his home state, Bihar.

Mr Rudy was first elected MLA from Bihar's Taraiya seat when he was only 27 years old in the 1990s. He has served in several organisational roles in the BJP, including national general secretary.

An avid aviator, Mr Rudy on his website says, "Other aircrafts I have flown include Sukhoi 30-MKI fighter aircraft, Grippen and the Rafale fighter."