In poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, electoral competition is in the air.
Literally. With just one day of campaigning left for the first phase of voting, due on Wednesday, the skies over the Oudh region (central UP) are virtually reverberating with the furious whirr of copter rotors. Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and DGCA, who have been specially posted here for the elections, are keeping a close eye on the busy air traffic.
The parking space in the hangar at Lucknow’s Chaudhry Charan Singh airport is full to capacity with the helicopters brought in by political parties. According to an AAI report, eight parties have engaged as many as 27 helicopters and 10 chartered planes to ferry their star campaigners in the UP election. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has hired the maximum number of eight helicopters. Sources say the Rashtriya Lok Dal, a much smaller political outfit confined to west UP, has four helicopters, thanks to RLD chief Ajit Singh’s recent elevation as the civil aviation minister.
“A helicopter sortie could mean the difference between victory and defeat for a candidate,” says Capt Sikander Rizvi, a helicopter pilot with over 30 years’ experience. Rizvi, who was BSP founder Kanshi Ram’s personal pilot in the 80s, says helicopters have become an “essential weapon” for the political parties during elections. “For covering maximum area in a day, there is no alternative to a helicopter in an election,” he says.
On an average, an hour of flying in one of these mechanical birds costs Rs 75,000. Despite the expense, it’s not as if only top party leaders or bigger parties are using the machine. Along with the SP, the BJP, the BSP and the Congress, smaller political outfits like the Peace Party have also engaged choppers. Even a non-descript party like the Qaumi Ekta Dal, headed by mafia don Mukhtar Ansari, who is contesting from behind bars, has hired a helicopter to spread the don’s message far and wide.
Candiates of lesser known parties like the NCP are banking on this machine to raise the heat and dust for them. “In rural areas, use of a helicopter for even one day can get you right into the centre of the electoral ring. It’s the surest way of getting talked about,” says Jagdish Shukla, the NCP candidate from Sevata in Sitapur district. He has hired a Bell-407 six-seater only for a day on Monday — the last day of campaigning.
The EC is also keeping a close eye on the air traffic. On Saturday, UP’s chief electoral officer (CEO) Umesh Sinha released an advisory for those using choppers and planes for campaigning. The CEO would have to be informed about each and every movement of these machines.
Those hiring the aircraft would also have to give complete details of the expenses involved. Besides, district election officers (i.e. the district magistrates) would also have to maintain a record of the movement of copters and planes in their respective areas. The UP CEO has also said that any chopper or plane can be checked at any time at the airport to prevent movement of large amounts of cash.
Comments