@the_news_21
The JD(U)’s Bihar MLA Gopal Mandal who got into an altercation with passengers on-board the Patna-New Delhi Tejas Rajdhani for walking around in his undergarments clarified on Friday that he was in a hurry to go to the washroom due to stomach upset.
The incident occurred on Thursday. The Railway Police Force (RPF) and the ticket examiner had to step in as the altercation had almost led to a fight.
Mandal, on Friday, told reporters that he was in a rush to visit the washroom immediately after boarding the train. He hurriedly removed his kurta and pyjama, and flung the towel over his shoulder instead of wrapping it around the waist, the MLA said.
“I was only wearing the undergarments as my stomach was upset during the journey. I did not have the time to wrap it around my waist,” he told reporters.
The JD(U) said a passenger stopped him and questioned him for roaming around “naked”.
“I came out (of the washroom) and asked who he was to which the passenger replied ‘I am the public’. I asked him who behaves like this with an MLA?” Mandal told reporters, adding that there was no woman in the train compartment at the time of the incident.
The MLA said that when the police came to speak to them, he told them that he was embarrassed as the passenger had caught hold of his hand and pushed him.
“Thereafter, I apologised to the passenger,” Mandal said.
Railway officials said the MLA was shifted to another coach of the train following the incident.
“Fellow passengers complained about the behaviour of the MLA. RPF & TTE persuaded both parties and pacified the matter,” Rajesh Kumar, Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO), East Central Railway, said.
Photos of the MLA roaming the train coach in a white vest have been widely shared on the Internet.
