Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of delaying helicopters of his and Rahul Gandhi in Jharkhand, and alleged that despite holding cabinet minister rank, the opposition leaders were not given access to reserved airport lounge.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's helicopter, which was supposed to take him from Mahagama in Jharkhand's Godda district after he addressed an election rally there, was grounded for about two hours on Friday, prompting allegations from the Congress that the delay was politically motivated.
Prime Minister Modi was stranded at Deoghar airport for nearly two hours on Friday and a 'no-fly zone' was declared in the region's airspace as the PM waited for the issue to be resolved, officials said.
"Yesterday, our leader Rahul Gandhi's helicopter was deliberately delayed by two hours as the PM was sitting in his plane. Today, my chopper was delayed by 20 minutes as Union .