Rahul Gandhi waits as his helicopter was reportedly delayed due to a clearance issue from the Air Traffic Control in Jharkhand's Godda on Friday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Ranchi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was stranded in Jharkhand’s Deoghar airport for around two hours on Friday after his special aircraft developed a snag, an incident that spiralled into leading to a delay in top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s campaign plans, prompting the Opposition party to cry foul.
As the technical snag in the aircraft could not be rectified, officials said, the Prime Minister returned to Delhi in another plane after over two hours. He was to return to the capital on the Air Force plane after a rally in Bihar's Jamui, around 80 km from Deoghar, on the 150th birth anniversary of Birsa Munda, but as technical issues were detected, his departure was delayed.
With Modi stranded in the airport and a no fly zone in place as per security protocol, Rahul’s chopper was not allowed to take off from Jharkhand’s Godda and land in Deoghar. This led the Congress to approach the Election Commission, saying that it should ensure a level playing field for the polls during the campaign.
Visuals showed Rahul, who attended a rally in Mahagama, waiting inside a chopper in Godda even as officials in Deoghar frantically tried to ensure that the aircraft of Modi was cleared for flying. However, a separate aircraft was arranged as technicians could not rectify the technical issues.
Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar urging him to intervene urgently and ensure that level playing field is not disrupted in such a manner.
Ramesh said that Rahul was to take off from Godda at 1.15 PM to Deoghar but was not allowed “due to the protocol of other leaders in the vicinity (and), a no fly zone restriction had been put in place”.
He said, “in fact, due to the said delay all subsequent programmes of Rahul Gandhi...is now either being delayed or cancelled.” He posted on ‘X’, “the Prime Minister's campaign cannot take precedence over that of all others. Today Rahul Gandhi got delayed in Jharkhand on this account.”
Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said there was a delay of two hours in Rahul's programmes. This “reeks of the BJP's intentions” to deny the Congress a level playing field in the elections.
“The Modi government is so brazen that it will resort to such petty tactics to stop Rahul-ji, who has for decades spoken for Adivasi empowerment and protecting the Constitution at all costs,” he said claiming that the people of Jharkhand know the BJP’s “shameless attitude” and would “punish them” on the voting day.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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