Supporters of Union minister of state Giriraj Singh created a ruckus at Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport on Thursday.
More than 300 BJP workers and supporters of Singh, MP from Nawada who is the Union minister of state with independent charge of micro, small and medium enterprises, had gathered to welcome their leader who was visiting Patna for the first time since the Union cabinet expansion.
The minister reached Patna from Delhi on the IndiGo 6E 634 flight at 9.30am.
As there was a limited number of entry passes for visitors, only around 20-25 persons were allowed to enter inside the airport. The minister's supporters who were restricted from entering created a ruckus, with many of them hurling the choicest abuses at the security personnel who were only doing their job.
'The BJP supporters who were not allowed to enter inside the airport hurled abuses at us, which led to heated exchanges of words between the supporters and the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) personnel,' a CISF person who was deployed at the entrance gate said on condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to speak to the media. 'The supporters were exerting pressure on us for entering inside the airport. At the same time, due to a large number of supporters gathering at the exit gate of the airport, passengers were facing problems.'
The CISF personnel had a hard time controlling the BJP supporters.
Kumar Gaurav, who had come to receive his relative who was coming from Calcutta, said: 'When I reached the airport I saw many BJP supporters arguing with the CISF personnel. They were adamant on their demand that they should be allowed to enter inside the airport, which the CISF personnel were not allowing. This is not first time that such an incident has occurred at Patna airport where supporters of a leader or political party argue with security personnel. The airport authority should make rules allowing only few supporters to enter the airport premises. The airport is a public place; it should not be allowed to be turned into a political party office.'
No complaint, however, has been lodged over Thursday's airport fracas either with the airport or the police station.
'The matter has been brought to my notice,' said Patna airport director Rajendra Singh Lahauria. 'But no complaints have been lodged in this connection.'
The airport director also stated that he will go through the issue so that entry of political workers at airport can be restricted.
Airport police station house officer Dev Kumar Singh said: 'The police have come to know about the incident but no complaint has been lodged by airport authorities in this connection.'
The RJD pounced on the issue to attack the BJP.
Former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav tweeted in Hindi: 'BJP supporters have shown their patriotism and sign of good governance at Patna airport by kicking and punching CISF personnel.'
However, neither the police nor airport authorities confirmed about BJP supporters beating up CISF personnel.
Minister Giriraj Singh was not available for comment; his staff said he was busy attending a public meeting.
This is not the first time that political workers have run amok at Patna airport while welcoming their leaders. Last year in December RJD chief Lalu Prasad's son and former health minister Tej Pratap Yadav's bike-borne supporters cocked a snook at the law. Similarly, last year when then newly appointed Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai reached Patna, party workers turned Patna airport into a race course with bikes and even horses, endangering the safety of several passengers.
