Congress complains to poll body after Rahul's chopper take-off delayed
Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, was left stranded in Jharkhand's Godda for over 45 minutes after his chopper was grounded due to a lack of clearance for takeoff. The party alleged that the delay was "deliberate" because the Air Traffic Control (ATC) gave "priority" to an election rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Chakai, around 150 kilometers from Godda.
Congress alleges deliberate disruption of Gandhi's campaign
The Congress party has now filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI), claiming that even after all required permissions for Gandhi's travel had been obtained, the delay occurred. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh stressed the need for a "level-playing field in campaigning," criticizing the preference given to PM Modi's event. "Due to the...delay all subsequent programs of Shri Rahul Gandhi (for which prior permission had been secured) are now either being delayed or cancelled," he wrote.
Read the communication here
Delay impacts Gandhi's campaign, Modi also faces delay
He added that if such a situation is allowed to prevail, the ruling regime will always be able to exploit such protocols and "limit the election campaign of opposition leaders." Both Gandhi and PM Modi were in Jharkhand campaigning for their respective parties. In Mahagama, Godda district, Gandhi slammed Modi and the BJP for policies against backward classes and favoritism toward billionaires. He alleged that Modi reduced reservations for backward classes and gave away precious land to industrialists like Adani.
Gandhi criticizes BJP's policies during campaign speech
PM Modi, in his speech, highlighted the government's focus on tribal welfare. He said, "It was the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee that created a separate ministry for tribal welfare." He also noted that under his government, the tribal development budget has increased five times to ₹1.25 lakh crores. He further announced a new initiative "Dharti Aaba, Janjatiya Gram, Utkarsh Abhiyan," to develop over 60,000 tribal villages with an investment of about ₹80k crore.
