Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad (Express Photo) Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad (Express Photo)

Weeks after stoking controversy over his assault on an Air India employee and his subsequent flying ban, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad has roped in a doppelganger to deal with selfie-seekers after being swamped with self requests, according to a report in Mumbai Mirror. “After the Air India incident and the media trial that I was subjected to, many people have started recognising me, and they request for selfies. I don’t like to turn them away but at the same time it gets time-consuming, so I chose my party worker Ratnakant Sagar, who has been working with me for a long time, to pose as me,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The parliamentarian from Osmanabad, who bears a striking resemblance with Sagar, further revealed that they interchange their roles and asks people seeking selfies with him to pose with his lookalike, who disguises himself as Gaikwad. To further deflect the attention, Gaikwad has instructed his aide to dress in his kurta pyjamas while he roams around in a casual T-shirt and baggy pants when not in the Parliament.

Although airlines revoked the flying ban on him, the Shiv Sena leader insisted that he will continue to travel by train. “My last two journeys on the Rajdhani Express, from Mumbai to Delhi, were very comfortable. I’m in no hurry to catch a flight,” he said.

Earlier this month, four private airlines had also lifted their ban on the MP. He triggered outrage after he had hit a 60-year-old Air India employee 25 times with his shoe because he was flown in the economy class despite booking a business class seat for his flight from Pune to Delhi.

Although he tendered a letter expressing ‘regret’ over the incident to Civil Aviation Minister A. Gajapathi Raju before his flying ban was lifted, Gaikwad made a remarkable u-turn when he was asked whether he regret hitting the elderly person. “Not at all. I removed my footwear and hit him about 20 to 25 times, even when everybody tried to hold me back and calm me down,” he was quoted by the newspaper.

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