I was not allowed to board plane, claims Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal today claimed he could not board a Kingfisher plane to Dharamsala despite having a valid boarding pass as the airline "prevented him" from flying saying he had cancelled his ticket.

Kejriwal was to fly to Dharamsala and reached the IGI airport here this afternoon and according to him, he cleared the security check and was waiting for boarding when he was told that his ticket was cancelled.

He was to travel to Dharamsala to attend tomorrow's rally there organised by Team Anna.

There was no response from the airline on the issue. "I had booked the ticket many days ago. This morning I checked on the website and checked in online selecting a seat. At airport I got security clearance and entered inside.

"I was waiting outside the boarding gate and when boarding began after a delay of 30 minutes, I was asked to step out of the queue. After others boarded, I was told by airline staff that my seat has been given to someone and I have been offloaded," he claimed.

He said he was surprised because he had a valid boarding pass and asked them to give it in writing that he was offloaded, which he claimed the staff refused.

"They told me that they will write that I have missed the flight, which is not the case. They said they gave me a call and I told them that I am not travelling. That is not true. I did not speak to anyone and the number which they referred to was shown in my phone as a missed call," he claimed.

"The flight was to depart at 2:55 pm and they called me at 2:30 pm," he alleged.