Helicopter armada touches down after 450-sortie blitz

PATNA: Rotor blades bushed implicit Bihar for weeks. Sky turned battleground. By Sunday evening, the chopper armada fell soundless arsenic campaigning for the 2nd signifier of assembly elections unopen down aft an aerial blitz of 450+ sorties - unmatched successful standard oregon cost. Up to 25 helicopters and 12 chartered planes flew regular from Patna airdrome to 122 constituencies voting crossed 20 districts connected Nov 11, reflecting soaring expenses of modern governmental warfare. Airport sources said postulation climbed steadily. Phase 1 - held crossed 121 seats connected November 6 - logged implicit 210 sorties, with 15 to 18 helicopters airborne regular from Oct 25 to November 5. Phase 2 pushed that gait higher from November 1 to 9 - astir 23 helicopters a time successful the last 3 days, totalling astir 240 sorties. Chartered jets outgo Rs 4-9 lakh an hr depending connected fittings specified arsenic sofas, beds, washrooms and catering. Single-engine helicopters for 4 passengers outgo astir Rs 1.5 lakh an hour. Twin-engine models ranged from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh. "For predetermination campaigning, salient politicians archetypal get astatine Patna airdrome by chartered plane. From there, they committee helicopters to be rallies successful different districts of Bihar.

Four to 5 chartered planes carrying politicians get astatine the airdrome daily," an airdrome root said, estimating full aerial question expenses successful crores of rupees. For Round 2, implicit 3.7 crore electors are eligible to ballot for 1,302 candidates - 1,165 men, 136 women and 1 third-gender candidate. The rolls see 6,255 electors supra 100 years. Polling volition instrumentality spot astatine 45,399 centres. Key contests see Chakai, wherever JDU curate Sumit Kumar Singh seeks re-election; BJP MLA Shreyasi Singh's Jamui; JDU curate Leshi Singh's Dhamdaha; and BJP curate Neeraj Kumar Singh's Chhatapur. Sunday's run finale saw 26 flying machines deployed by apical contenders. RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, warring from Raghopur and anchoring the Mahagathbandhan campaign, delivered 16 back-to-back rallies crossed Arwal, Rohtas and Jehanabad. VIP main Mukesh Sahani toured Bhagalpur and Katihar. Union curate Amit Shah addressed rallies successful Arwal & Sasaram. Defence curate Rajnath Singh spoke successful Aurangabad and Sasaram.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath campaigned successful Supaul. Union curate Jitan Ram Manjhi covered Nawada, Gaya, Aurangabad and Sheohar. CM Nitish Kumar addressed rallies successful Aurangabad and Rohtas. JDU spokesperson Basudev Kushwaha said Nitish addressed 84 rallies successful some phases - 73 by helicopter, 11 by road. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi canvassed successful Kishanganj and Purnia. LJP (RV) main Chirag Paswan rallied successful Katihar and Bhagalpur.

Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary spoke successful Banka, Jamui and Bhagalpur, portion his counterpart Vijay Kumar Sinha wrapped up successful Sitamarhi.

Tejashwi's elder member Tej Pratap Yadav addressed supporters successful Kesariya of East Champaran. Jitan Ram Manjhi of HAM(S) attended 72 rallies and roadshows by helicopter, mostly successful Magadh. Jan Suraaj's Prashant Kishor ran a contrasting campaign, avoiding the entity and relying connected door-to-door mobilisation.