Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jairam Ramesh engage in social media spat over in-flight election announcement

A war of words erupted between Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on X over the in-flight announcement by the cabin crew on upcoming state elections.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on his X handle wrote, "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 the Election Commission in this announcement — a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

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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. 

Small mercies that the flight I took today 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 govt and are following fair practices."

However, this did not go well in the saffron party camp, to which Jyotiraditya M. Scindia replied on X handle, "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."

The Union Minister for Civil Aviation also attached a letter from the ECI with the subject line- "Voter Awareness Activities for Special Summary Revision of Photo Electoral Rolls, 2024 and Ongoing Legislative Assembly Elections in five States".