Sena chief blasts Congress for Sachin’s Rajya Sabha innings

April 30, 2012

Mumbai, April 30: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has taken strong exception to Sachin Tendulkar's nomination to the Rajya Sabha by the Congress-led UPA.

"What is Tendulkar going to do in the Rajya Sabha? He has no scope there,'' Thackeray said. He was talking informally to mediapersons at his Bandra residence on Sunday on the sidelines of a function to honour him for his contribution to the contemporary media as cartoonist. 'Cartoon Watch', a Raipur-based magazine, felicitated Thackeray.

Questioning the role of matinee idols and cricketing stars in the Rajya Sabha, Thackeray said, "It's time to take a close, hard look at the contribution of film stars to the Upper House. What did Hema Malini do in the Rajya Sabha all these years?'' he asked caustically, "Nominating Sachin Tendulkar to the Rajya Sabha is the Congress party's Dirty Picture.''

The Thackeray Senior's tirade against Tendulkar is in sharp contrast with his estranged nephew, MNS chief Raj Thackeray's wholehearted support for his best friend's new assignment.

Addressing a press conference last week, Raj Thackeray had said there was no political context to Tendulkar's RS nomination. "It's a gesture of honour for his sterling contribution to Indian and world sports,'' he said.

"Tendulkar is not going to campaign for the Congress party because the UPA government has offered him a seat in the RS. Lata Mangeshkar was nominated to the Upper House by the BJP-led NDA a few years ago. But neither did she join the BJP nor helped the BJP garner votes,'' said Raj, adding, "It would be cheap to politicize the issue.''

Shorn of rhetoric, the Master Blaster finds himself caught in a cross-fire between the Sena and the MNS, say political observers.

Meanwhile, Bal Thackeray slammed Anna Hazare for his conspicuous silence on the "malpractices'' of his close colleagues such as Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kiran Bedi. Thackeray said Bedi, Kejriwal and Sisodia all have skeletons in their cupboards. "However, Hazare doesn't utter a word on their misdeeds. He keeps mum on his colleagues.''

"Hazare talks of weeding out corruption from public life. Who will reform his corrupt colleagues?'' the Sena chief asked.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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