Election campaign: Parties in a rush to book choppers in Bihar

PATNA: Over a dozen helicopters are likely to be used by different political parties for electioneering in the state as part of the ensuing Lok Sabha polls. They are in talks with private aviation companies for hiring choppers as well as chartered flights for leaders to travel across the state.
Choppers are mostly used by star campaigners of different parties while private jets are used by those who come from outside the state, especially for electioneering. An hour-long journey in a chopper can cost up to Rs 55,000 to Rs 1.30 lakh, depending on its size and seating capacity. An additional sum of Rs 15,000 has to be paid to keep the helicopter overnight. The choppers are parked at the state hangar with the consent of the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

An executive of a Mumbai-based private helicopter company told this newspaper that various political parties were approaching the firm to hire helicopters for election campaigns.

Like the 2014 general elections, the JD(U) is planning to hire two choppers this time. “We are in talks with private aviation companies to hire choppers as per our budget. One chopper will be extensively used by chief minister (CM) Nitish Kumar for campaigning,” a JD(U) member, who is looking after the movement of political leaders during campaigning, told this newspaper on Monday.

The Grand Alliance (GA) has already booked two twin-engine choppers. Former CM and HAM(S) president Jitan Ram Manjhi claimed that most of the private jets and choppers had been booked by the BJP for campaigning. “We were discussing this issue at the GA meeting held last week. Luckily, we had booked two helicopters for the movement of star campaigners,” he said.

The Congress, on the other hand, is likely to hire three or four choppers. Party’s Rajya Sabha MP and campaign committee chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh said, “Leaders, who want to cover the whole state, cannot hope to do so without flying. Choppers will be hired as per the schedule of the star campaigners of the party.”

BJP state president Nityanand Rai told this reporter that it was not possible to say how many choppers the party was going to use during electioneering. “We are waiting to get data on choppers and aircraft to be used in election campaigns from our party headquarters in New Delhi,” he said.

Like the BJP, the LJP is also waiting to get a communiqué from its party headquarters.

State LJP president and animal and fish resources minister Pashupati Kumar Paras said, “The party has still to decide the number of helicopters that are going to be hired for campaigning. We will plan this in a week or two. Being in alliance with the NDA, we are expecting to get some choppers from the party,” he said.