Kuwait: An Air India Express flight that was scheduled to fly from Kuwait International Airport to Mangaluru at 9 am (IST) on December 25 departed the airport at 3 pm (IST) on December 26, causing inconveniences to the passengers.

Passengers expressed anguish over the delay of more than 30 hours and asserted that they were ill-treated by the crew members at the airport.

One of the passengers, Mohammed Yusuf, who spoke to Vartha Bharati over a phone call, said there were about 150 passengers set to fly to Mangaluru on the flight who were inconvenienced by the delay.

“We arrived at the airport at 6 am on schedule and checked in. We were not informed about the delay in advance nor were we told about it when we arrived at the airport. We were later told the flight had not left for Kuwait from Mangaluru Airport itself while we were already waiting at the Kuwait Airport. This means the airline could’ve informed the passengers about the delay in advance.” Yusuf told Vartha Bharati.

Although the passengers were given a stay at the hotel after the completion of the immigration process, Yusuf said no one from the airline tried to approach them and give a clear picture on the situation.

“One of the passengers was going to attend his father’s funeral in Kerala. There were infants and newborns on the passengers' list, but the airline was least bothered about any of the inconveniences to the passengers.” He further added.

After a delay of more than 30 hours, the flight finally departed from Kuwait Airport on Monday at 3 pm (IST) and was expected to land at the Mangaluru International Airport at 7:30 pm.

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Chandigarh (PTI): The Congress on Thursday announced candidates for eight of the nine Lok Sabha seats it is contesting in Haryana, fielding former Union minister Kumari Selja, Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda and youth leader Divyanshu Budhiraja, besides two sitting MLAs.

The party has also fielded former MP Jai Prakash and leaders Satpal Brahmachari and Mahendra Pratap, according to the list released late Thursday evening.

The Congress is contesting nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. It has not yet announced its candidate for the Gurugram constituency.

The Aam Aadmi Party, a constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, will contest the Kurukshetra seat.

Congress general secretary and former Union minister Selja will contest from the Sirsa (reserved) seat and sitting MLAs Varun Choudhary and Rao Dan Singh from the Ambala (reserved) and the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seats, respectively.

Deepender Hooda, son of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, will enter the fray from Rohtak. He has represented the Rohtak parliamentary constituency three times in the past.

Jai Prakash has been fielded from Hisar, the Congress' Haryana youth wing president Divanshu Budhiraja from Karnal, Satpal Brahmachari from Sonipat and Mahendra Pratap from Faridabad.