"Petty, BJP Scared": Bhupesh Baghel To NDTV On Delhi Airport Drama

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel today said the deplaning of Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera from a Raipur-bound flight was a "petty act" and that the BJP government at the centre was "terrified after the success" of back-to-back Congress campaigns.

Mr Khera was on going to Raipur with other Congress leaders for a crucial party meeting. He was allegedly forced to exit the IndiGo flight, after which Congress leaders started protesting on the tarmac. An Assam Police team then reached the airport and arrested him.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Mr Baghel said Mr Khera had done no crime for which he should be deplaned. If there is an FIR, he could have been stopped earlier or questioned once he returned from Raipur. But this act is something petty people do. I think there is no bigger example of the misuse of power.

Mr Baghel said Mr Khera's deplaning and the Enforcement Directorate's raids against Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh were part of the BJP's attempts to foil the key Congress meeting. "Their objective is to stop our plenary session. This shows that the BJP leadership is scared after our Bharat Jodo Yatra and Haath se Haath Jodo campaign," he said.

Mr Khera had been drawing fire from the BJP since he flubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's name while demanding a joint parliamentary probe into the Adani-Hindenburg row. "If Narasimha Rao could form a JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee), if Atal Bihari Vajpayee could form a JPC, then what problem does Narendra Gautam Das...sorry Damodardas...Modi have?" he said, appearing to confirm the middle name with a colleague.

The Prime Minister's full name is Narendra Damodardas Modi -- the middle name stands for his father's name. While the Congress insists that it was a slip of tongue, the BJP has accused Mr Khera of making fun of the Prime Minister and his late father.

Mr Baghel questioned what are charges invoked against Mr Khera. "Are the sections bailable or not bailable? If he should have been arrested urgently, was Assam Police sleeping for the past few days. This is a petty act," he said.

The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister said he feared that there may be attempts to stop Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge too. "If they can stoop to this level to stop Mr Khera, I wonder what they would do to stop our national president," he said.

"I would like to add that the more they bother us, the more successful our plenary session will be," Mr Baghel said.