Congress star campaigner Rahul Gandhi’s first electioneering in the State for the lok Sabha elections on Tuesday was hit by a technical fault in the helicopter which was scheduled to take him to Gumla. The snag, however, prompted him to change his programme but it created all sorts of speculations forcing the State unit chief Sukhdeo Bhagat hold a press conference to clarify the issue.
However, Rahul addressed an election rally in Godda where he said that the Gujarat model of development would fail after the general elections just like BJP’s ‘India Shining’ rhetoric that had proved a farce after 2004 and 2009 polls.
“The BJP campaigned with India Shining slogan, but we went to people with services like the MNREGA. This time the opposition has brought the Gujarat model and they are going to blow it up again. This willalso burst after the polls,” he said. Rahul also blamed the NDA for ignoring the tribals of Jharkhand and said that the BJP had not done anything for them. Instead it snatched away land from them in the name of India shining, he said.
He promised that the Women’s Reservation Bill would be passed if UPA III comes to power.Meanwhile, cancellation of the Congress vice president’s rally due to snag in the chopper left hundreds of Congress supporters disappointed in tribal dominated Gumla. The Congress chief poll campaigner was scheduled to address the rally at Gumla around 1 pm after his address in Godda. However, after landing at Ranchi airport it was found that there was a “short-circuit” in the chopper. Congress poll managers tried their best to arrange another chopper for Rahul but it could not get clearance from the authorities, sources said.
“The chopper which was to be used by Rahulji had developed some technical snag. Another chopper was called but it could not get necessary clearance. He (Rahul) wanted to go by road to the venue but finally he took a special flight to Gaya,” said State Congress president Sukhdeo Bhagat.
Bhagat also attempted to dispel doubts about cancellation of Rahul Gandhi’s proposed rally at Gumla and put to rest of rumours that started doing rounds after cancellation of Gandhi scion’s rally due to technical snag.
“Smoke started erupting in the chopper that we were about to embark so we left the chopper and called another single engine chopper. In the meantime we began the process of obtaining clearance to fly in a different chopper from the DGCA however the SPG did not agree,” said Bhagat.
However, the PCC president assured the supporters that the party will try to compensate the cancelled rally by proposing another rally by the Congress vice-president. Bhagat also informed that party president Sonia Gandhi will arrive at Chatra on April 4 for an election rally.