Air trips set to soar above 100

Ranchi: Poll stars — from national and regional parties — are getting airborne to reach out to the electorate — both in remote rural pockets as well as urban areas. A period of just over one month — March 7 to — April 9 — has seen as many as 51 chartered flights across the state. And with several more days to go before campaigning for both phases draws to an end, officials at the Airport Authority of India believe the flight figure will go well beyond 100.
This is quite in contrast with air campaigns organised in 2004. Air Traffic Control office figures show that the maximum number of flights used during the last Lok Sabha polls was 45, between March 3 and April 26 that year.
The Sudesh Mahto faction of Ajsu has booked a small two-seater helicopter for a week. Mahto plans to cover all the six Lok Sabha seats from where his party candidates are contesting. Insiders say around Rs 60,000 will be spent everyday on an hour’s flight.
The Congress, too, has booked a chopper, although an eight-seater, from a chartered agency called Global Link. The chopper has been ferrying state Congress chief Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu and the party’s Jharkhand in-charge K. Keshav Rao on a daily basis since April 5. It has already made more than 10 trips.
Babulal Marandi’s JVM(P)'s senior leader Deepak Prakash said they had booked a helicopter of Deccan Aviation for the campaigning period.
The campaign expenditure limit for a candidate is Rs 25 lakh. A chartered plane or helicopter can be hired at anything between Rs 75,000 and Rs 5 lakh.
11/04/09 Amit Gupta/The Telegraph

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2009