Praful Patel, Raj Thackeray jealous of Ramkhelawan of UP

The morning after Jet Airways reinstated all 1,900 staff it sacked 48 hours ago, Ramkhelawan Pandey, the paanwala outside the airport, described it as victory for his relentless prayers that lasted more than 13 minutes in total.

“Jet has been forced to take this decision due to the prayers launched by Pandeyji. This is a victory of his devotional tactics,” his assistant Raju told reporters. Pandeyji will make his stance clear over Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal's announcement tomorrow morning, he said.

Seeking to wriggle out of a financial mess, Jet on Wednesday had fired 1,900 probationary staff hired for proposed expansion plans, which have since been put on hold. The layoff decision was expected to help the airline save one million US dollars a month, but evoked strong condemnation from unions, politicians.

And as if that was nothing Ramkhelawan Pandey, who sold smokes and paan masala to the young guys and girls, immediately closed his eyes, put his janeu (sacred thread) on his left ear and asked God to immediately act. He asked God to influence Goyal’s dead, beloved, heaven-resident mother, the only person Goyal listened to. “In the press conference, Goyalsaab swore on his dead, beloved mother saying his conscience did not let him let his children suffer,” that’s the power of conscience,” Raju said as he closed the shop for the night.

At a press conference late on Thursday night, Goyal had said the reinstatement decision was “not under political pressure and and I have not met anybody... There was no internal or external pressure.”

“When there is no internal or external pressure it is clear that Pandeyji’s divine pressure has worked,” Raju said. He however denied that Pandeyji sent any ‘julab-laced’ paan for the chairman to add to the pressure.

In the meantime, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel attempted to take credit by saying he was happy that 1,900 people got back their jobs in Jet Airways, within a day of his asking the airline's boss to solve the problem.

"I called the Chairman (Naresh Goyal) yesterday morning to meet me in Hyderabad... I had also told him that in 24 hours, we must find a resolution to this problem otherwise we in the ministry would certainly not be very happy with the approach of Jet Airways," he told reporters here.

Raju said Patel is trying to ape Raj Thackeray of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, who earlier claimed to have forced the airline to take back the sacked staff. “Just 24 hours ago, Patel was saying the decision to retrench was as an internal corporate matter of Jet and government supported the idea of cutting costs. This man obviously wants to share Pandeyji’s well-deserved limelight,” Raju told reporters.