PM Modi's aircraft suffers technical snag at Jharkhand's Deoghar airport

The incident took place after Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded his events in the poll-bound Jharkhad and arrived at the Deoghar airport to return to Delhi. 

In Short

• PM Modi's return to Delhi delayed due to safety measures
• PM addressed rallies for Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas in Jharkhand
• Rahul Gandhi's also chopper delayed in Mahagama

A Delhi-bound aircraft carrying Prime Minister Narendra Modi encountered a technical snag at Deoghar airport in Jharkhand, resulting in his delay in his return to the national capital, officials said on Friday.

The incident took place after PM Modi concluded his events in the poll-bound state and arrived at the airport to return to Delhi.

As a safety measure, the plane was grounded while technical teams worked to identify and resolve the issue.

PM Modi was supposed to return to New Delhi on the Indian Air Force (IAF) plane after addressing a rally in Bihar's Jamui, around 80 km from Deoghar.

"PM Modi left for Delhi from Deoghar in another special aircraft after his IAF plane developed a technical snag. The aircraft could not be rectified on time. PM had to wait for more than two hours," Deoghar Deputy Commissioner Vishal Sagar told news agency PTI.

While the Prime Minister waited for the glitch to be resolved, the region's airspace was declared a "no-flying zone".

The Prime Minister today addressed two rallies in Jharkhand as part of celebrations marking Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, an occasion honouring tribal hero Birsa Munda. The events came just days ahead of the second phase of polling for the Jharkhand Assembly elections on November 20.

In a separate development, the chopper of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was also in Jharkhand to attend election related events, was grounded for nearly two hours due to a lack of clearance from the Air Traffic Control (ATC).

The incident took place in Mahagama where Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to address a public rally. The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha was given clearance to take off after around 2 hours.

Congress leaders have claimed it to be a "deliberate obstruction" by the BJP, alleging that the delay was politically motivated. Sources revealed that Rahul Gandhi's helicopter clearance was delayed due to PM Modi's poll rally in Bihar's Jamui, which restricted airspace availability in the area.

"The country’s top opposition leader has been kept waiting in the chopper for over an hour. They are not granting him permission to leave. I don’t understand why the BJP is doing this," Jharkhand Minister and Congress leader Dipika Pandey Singh said.

In another bag checking event, the Election Commission of India (ECI) checked the luggage of Union Home Minister Amit Shah kept in his helicopter in Maharashtra, which will go to polls in a single phase on November 20.

Amit Shah posted a video of the checking on his X and said that the BJP believes in fair elections and follows all rules made by the Election Commission.

"Today, during my election campaign in Hingoli Assembly constituency of Maharashtra, my helicopter was inspected by Election Commission officials. BJP believes in fair elections and healthy election system and follows all the rules made by the Honourable Election Commission," he tweeted.