Announcements By Airline Crew Violated Poll Code, Alleges Congress Leader

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday alleged a Model Code of Conduct violation by private airline IndiGo, claiming that an announcement on two of its flights hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "something routine" and then immediately segued into an appeal to passengers to vote during the upcoming state elections.

Mr Ramesh pointed out that there was no mention of the Election Commission in the vote appeal announcement, which, he said, was a "clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct".

Hitting back at the Congress leader, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on X shared an Election Commission communication and said there is an "ongoing awareness collaboration" between his ministry and the poll panel to encourage voter participation.

In a post on X, Mr Ramesh said, "Last week, I took flights to Aizawl and back to Delhi on Indigo. Both ways there was an announcement by the cabin crew that hailed the Prime Minister 'Shri Narendra Modiji' for something routine and inconsequential." 

"One of these announcements immediately segued into a vote appeal asking passengers to vote during upcoming state elections. Note that there was no mention of Election Commission in this announcement, a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct," the Congress general secretary in-charge communications alleged.

There was no immediate response from the airline to Mr Ramesh's claims.

"Never before has any prime minister gone to these lengths to stay in the public eye to shore up his own flailing image, especially in the run-up to crucial elections. Clearly, there is no limit to the man's insecurities, the civil aviation minister's sycophancy and the spinelessness of the airline concerned," Mr Ramesh said.

Small mercies, he said, that the flight he took on Wednesday to Raipur of another airline did not stoop to the same level. "Good to see that some corporates are still resisting pressure from the Modi government and are following fair practices," Mr Ramesh said.

Responding to Mr Ramesh, Mr Scindia posted on X, "For your kind information: this is part of an ongoing awareness collaboration between @MoCA_GoI & the ECI to encourage voter participation."

"Next time, simply ask @Jairam_Ramesh. The world of armchair activism could do better with fewer false alarms," he said.

Taking a swipe at Mr Scindia, Mr Ramesh then said, "The civil aviation minister seems to have wilfully given up on reading and comprehension since he switched sides." 

"Which part of my post should I repeat again?" the Congress leader said.

Elections are taking place in five states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram -- and their results will be declared on December 3. The Model Code of Conduct has been in place since the announcement of polls on October 9. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)