NEW DELHI: Congress on Friday wrote a letter to the Election Commission regarding the delay in clearance for party leader Rahul Gandhi's helicopter by Air Traffic Control (ATC) in poll-bound Godda, Jharkhand, stating that "PM's campaign cannot take precedence over that of all others."
"There should be a level-playing field in campaigning. The PM's campaign cannot take precedence over that of all others. Today Rahul Gandhi got delayed in Jharkhand on this account," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
Congress has alleged that leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's chopper faced a 45-minute delay in receiving Air Traffic Control (ATC) clearance, resulting in disruptions to his scheduled public meetings.
The party further alleged that the delay in Rahul's chopper schedule was a deliberate attempt to disrupt his campaign, and the ATC prioritised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally near Deoghar over Gandhi's movements, suggesting favoritism.
Ramesh, addressed the letter to the Election Commission requesting urgent intervention to maintain electoral fairness. He clarified that Rahul was visiting Jharkhand for a Congress election rally and had obtained all necessary permissions for state-wide travel and scheduled electoral events.

He detailed that according to the approved schedule and authorisations, Gandhi and his team were scheduled to depart from Godda to various locations across the state at 1.15 pm.
"However, their mode of travel, which was permitted to fly at 1.15 pm IST, has not been allowed to take flight. They have been informed that due to the protocol of other leaders in the vicinity, a no-fly zone restriction had been put in place. In fact, due to the said delay all subsequent programmes of Shri Rahul Gandhi (for which prior permission had been secured) is now either being delayed or cancelled," Ramesh wrote in his complaint.

"We request your Commission to urgently intervene in this situation and ensure that the level playing field is not disrupted in such a manner. If such a situation is allowed to prevail, then the ruling regime and its leaders can always take undue advantage of such protocols and limit the election campaign of opposition leaders," Ramesh added.
Earlier in the day, MLA and Congress candidate from Mahagama Constituency Deepika Pandey Singh said that, "Just because the PM is in Deogarh, Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to cross that area...There is the protocol we understand but Congress ruled the country for 70 years and such an incident never happened with any opposition leader...This is not acceptable.”
Congress leader B V Srinivas said, "BJP's brazen tactics exposed! 2-hr delay in Rahul Gandhi's helicopter takeoff on Birsa Munda's birthday due to ATC clearance is nothing but an attempt to stop him from campaigning."