The demand for private choppers is set to witness a spurt in Jharkhand as political parties are gearing up for aggressive campaigning during the recently announced 17th General Elections.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has already booked a six-seater chopper for its star campaigners and plans to book another chopper if there is a requirement during electioneering, said the party’s General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya. JMM is the first party in Jharkhand that has already booked a chopper for the campaigning.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress party are waiting for the nod of their respective central high commands before going ahead with the bookings.
The BJP, which is likely to have the maximum number of star campaigners, is planning to book at least three choppers, said party insiders. These choppers will be four seaters and six seaters and will be used to ferry party veterans from airport to rally venues and back.
“The high command is yet to take a final call on the number of choppers to be allotted for Jharkhand since we will have elections here in the fourth phase. We usually book three choppers for electioneering here and the count is likely to be the same,” said Pratul Shahdeo, Spokesperson of BJP.
Private choppers on rent cost around Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per hour depending on the demand. The cost is not included in the electioneering expenses of any candidate since the concerned political party bears the expense, sources said. A political party that has presence across the country spends at least Rs 50 lakh on choppers during General Elections, said party insiders.
Jharkhand, with its 14 Lok Sabha seats, is likely to have Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and several Union Ministers from former Governments address rallies here. Most of these leaders will require chopper facility.
The Congress party is likely to book one chopper for the campaigning. The party is contesting the election in alliance with JMM, RJD and JMM, so the requirement is low, party insiders said.
“The party high command will take a call on the number of choppers to be allotted for Jharkhand within a day or two,” said Congress Spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan.
Since technical snags in choppers have resulted in cancellation of political rallies in the past, parties here are trying their best to make foolproof arrangements. During the 2014 General Elections, Congress President Rahul Gandhi could not address a rally in Gumla due to technical snag in his chopper. Union Minister Rajnath Singh had to cancel a rally in West Singbhum the same year during electioneering for the Assembly Elections. His chopper reportedly failed to find the right coordinates for landing and had to return.