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Without ticket: A ticket checker and cops escort Hema Malini at Dadar station yesterday morning. |
The Rajya Sabha MP had travelled to Pandharpur for the inauguration of a branch of the Sawarkar Vichar Manch on Thursday. Hema decided to take the overnight train back, as she wanted to reach Mumbai in the morning.
Hema said, "When we reached Mumbai and the ticket collector came to our coupe, we realised we didn't have our tickets with us. He immediately contacted Pandharpur, got our ticket numbers, etc," adding with a chuckle, "This is where the advantage of who I am came into play."
"We had booked tickets for her at the last moment and the man who booked it came in the same train from Solapur to Kurduwadi. However, he got off from Ist AC, while Hemaji got into the 2nd AC compartment. The train started moving and in the confusion, the tickets could not be handed over to her," said Prashant Badwe, one of the organisers.
Rules for MPs
BJP MP Jual Oram said that the identity card of an MP was treated like a railway ticket. "Even if we enter a train without a ticket and if seats are available, the TTE can allot us the seat against our MP Identity Card number. But an MP must keep his I-Card with him, as that is the only proof that the person is an MP," Oram said. It wasn't known if Malini was travelling with her identity card.
However, Chief PRO, Northern Railway, Rajeev Saxena, said that MPs travelling without a ticket can be penalised. "Be it a railway employee or an MP, they have to inform the authority to reserve a berth in the train," he said.
J P Aggarwal, Rajya Sabha MP and Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president, said, "Even for MPs, the formalities are the same as that of a common man. We just have the privilege that we don't have to pay for our ticket. We are issued tickets with Rs 0 in the fare column."
(Inputs by Subhash K Jha and Amit Kumar)
