Protocol officer suspended after Pinarayi misses flight on Saturday

NEW DELHI: Disciplinary action has been taken against the protocol officer after opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan missed his flight from New Delhi to Kerala. Protocol officer R Sreekumar of the Kerala House has been suspended. The report of the additional resident commissioner found lapses from the side of Sreekumar. An investigation has found that the protocol officer failed to update the airlines about Pinarayi’s travel.

The incident happened on Saturday at Delhi International Airport’s Terminal 2, where the opposition leader was scheduled to board a 2:50 pm Indigo flight to Kozhikode after attending the CPM politburo meeting. Pinarayi and his secretary were resting in the VIP lounge and were only alerted about the departure at the last moment. By the time they reached the boarding gate, the aircraft had already left. The protocol department had informed IndiGo about Pinarayi's arrival.

However, the airline representative did not inform Pinarayi about the departure of the flight. The Governor, Chief Minister, etc are informed when they are in the lounge. However, since the private company Indigo does not provide that service to the opposition leader, only an announcement was made. Those who were with him after hearing the announcement tried to get him to the boarding gate, but the flight had already left.