Patna: With thick clouds stubbornly hovering over Bihar skies for three days straight, political bigwigs have been forced to ground their helicopters and take to roads for campaigns.
Since Oct 30, no chopper has lifted off from tarmac, holding star campaigners in gridlocked traffic, forcing them to cut short the number of their campaigns.
On Saturday, CM Nitish Kumar left his helicopter parked at the Patna airport and opted for a vehicle to reach a Muzaffarpur rally—a trek that dragged about three hours versus a breezy 35-minute flight. His public meeting scheduled at Saraiya in Paru assembly constituency was postponed due to bad weather. Instead, the CM held a roadshow and conveyed his message to the voters.
“Time is the biggest casualty,” said a party worker, noting that late arrivals thin attendance as locals, mostly farmers and workers, return home early. The other parties and leaders also felt the pinch.
RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Saturday faced similar delays. His helicopter, scheduled to fly him from Patna to Siwan for a youth outreach event, did not leave the tarmac. He took the road to reach the venue four hours behind the schedule. He cancelled scheduled meetings at several places and connected with supporters through video conferencing. A technical team was deployed at the party offices to ensure the campaign was not affected.
For Bihar’s political heavyweights, helicopters are the lifeblood of campaigns, enabling back-to-back speeches that cover hundreds of kilometres in hours. But cyclone Montha’s cloudy shroud has clipped their wings.
At least 17 choppers hired by leaders of various parties have been grounded at Patna airport since Oct 30, due to inclement weather. The pilots have already warned: “We won’t take the risk of flying.”
Union home minister Amit Shah, Jharkhand BJP chief Babu Lal Marandi, LJP (RV) leader Chirag Paswan, Bhojpuri star-turned-politician Pawan Singh, and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s choppers on Saturday could also not take off due to bad weather and they were forced to go by road.
“Every political leader is going by road,” said an official at the airport control tower in Patna. Devendra Kumar, a private aircraft supplier, said the choppers are facing a double whammy of low cloud and helipads turning soggy in districts.
“Ceiling locked at 1,000-1,500 feet is nowhere near safe for rotors. Rain soaked helipads in rural areas are also very risky,” he said.
Mrityunjay Tiwari, spokesperson of RJD, said: “Tejashwi had 11-12 stops mapped yesterday and another dozen today. By air, that’s doable. By road, he will be lucky to hit three. Today, he covered Siwan and Darbhanga. After the announcement of the election, there was a week’s disruption due to Diwali and then Chhath. Then again due to rainy weather, it has been disrupted for two-three days. The campaign for the first phase will end on Nov 4. However, people have made up their mind to vote for the INDIA bloc.”
“Covering four places by road is almost impossible, but through choppers more areas can be touched,” a Congress aide said.
Danish Rizwan, spokesperson of HAM(S), said: “On Saturday, Jitan Ram Manjhi covered Imamganj and Barachatti assemblies in Gaya district by road. From tomorrow, the choppers will again be in the sky as there is a forecast that the weather may improve.”
Explaining the benefit of flying to constituencies by chopper, Rizwan said, “By air, you are in and out, point to point, without stops. Nobody welcomes you with garlands or takes selfies along the way. Besides, the choppers attract more crowds in the rally. But in a car, people spot the convoy assembling around it, turning the place into a mini-rally, which is also good to build real buzz.”
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