It is learned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plane developed a technical snag, which caused it to spend some time at Deoghar airport and delayed his return to Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was stuck for nearly two hours at Deoghar airport on Friday after his particular IAF aircraft developed a technical snag, forcing him to return to Delhi on another plane. Modi had addressed a rally in Jamui, Bihar, where he attended a function marking the 150th birth anniversary of tribal leader Birsa Munda, celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.
Officials also said that when his aircraft malfunctioned, the PM had to wait for the issue to be sorted out at Deoghar. However, the repair would take much longer. Hence, the PM departed on an alternate particular aircraft. “The PM had to wait for more than two hours,” said the Deputy Commissioner of Deoghar Vishal Sagar. The region’s airspace was declared a no-flying zone in the given period.
This comes as, in a related incident, the helicopter carrying Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was stranded for 45 minutes in Godda because of denial of clearance by Air Traffic Control.
The Congress termed this an attempt to hamper Gandhi’s campaign ahead of the final phase of the Jharkhand assembly polls. On-site videos showed Rahul Gandhi waiting inside the chopper for permission to take off.
Deepika Pandey Singh, a Congress MLA and candidate from Mahagama Constituency condemned the incident, saying, “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.” Finally, at 2:50 PM, Gandhi’s helicopter took off.
This is not the first flight-related incident this week. Kalpana Soren, the wife of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and Chief Minister Hemant Soren, saw her chopper held up for over 50 minutes in the early days of this week.
