YSRCP demands sacking of Ram Mohan Naidu for civil aviation chaos

Rajamundry, Dec 8: Speaking to the media at the YSR Congress Party office in Rajahmundry,  former MP Margani Bharat said Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu’s incompetence alone is responsible for the ongoing aviation crisis. He alleged that without any proper departmental review, the Centre abruptly implemented new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules, increasing pilots’ rest time from 36 to 48 hours, which led to a severe pilot shortage in IndiGo, cancellation of hundreds of flights, and grave inconvenience to passengers across the country. He said passenger safety was thrown to the wind and other airlines took advantage of the situation to sharply increase fares, exposing a complete failure of the Civil Aviation Ministry. Bharat also criticised TDP spokespersons on national television for shamelessly eulogising Nara Lokesh, claiming he was “reviewing” the crisis from a war room, only to be grilled by national anchors on what authority Lokesh had over civil aviation, thereby humiliating Telugu people. He recalled that even after the recent Ahmedabad incident, the Union Minister did not place full details in the public domain and was more interested in shooting reels at the crash site with his social media team. Bharat pointed out that IndiGo has about 5,400 pilots operating 2,300 flights daily with 434 aircraft, and that the unilateral FDTL change required at least 900 more pilots without any review or recruitment plan. He cited real-life hardships, patients, senior citizens, people travelling with dead bodies, and even a couple forced to marry online because flights were cancelled, to underline the human cost of the crisis. He demanded that Ram Mohan Naidu resign immediately or be removed from the Cabinet. 
Bharat also alleged that Rajahmundry’s Gautami Super Bazaar was built without mandatory approvals and demanded that the municipal commissioner demolish it if it violates norms, questioning a TDP MLA who had earlier falsely accused him of taking bribes. He further condemned the death of a pregnant woman at Rajahmundry Government Hospital due to alleged medical negligence, saying that while the baby survived, the callous attitude of doctors and the government shows how little value is placed on the lives of the poor, and that standards in government hospitals have collapsed.