The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday urged the Bihar government to reconsider its decision to buy a jet engine plane and a modern helicopter to replace the faulty ones for the movement of top politicians and senior bureaucrats. Former Bihar deputy chief minister and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi said the state cabinet’s nod to buy the helicopter and jet was not “appropriate” and claimed the decision was taken under pressure from Tejashwi Yadav as he feels he will become the next chief minister.
He also said that the jet would not be used in Bihar as the state has few runways, instead it would be used for “Nitish Kumar’s dream of becoming Prime Minister in 2024”. “The state government’s permission to buy a helicopter and a jet is not appropriate. Now state governments don’t buy them, instead they lease them. As Tejashwi Yadav feels that he will become the next CM, that is why the jet and helicopter were bought under his pressure,” BJP leader saying.
“The government should reconsider its decision. It seems the jet and helicopter will be used to move across the country to campaign against PM Modi for the 2024 general elections,” he added. Reacting to the allegations, Bihar Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said the BJP earlier felt the planes were needed and now feels the approval has come under pressure. “You can understand the mentality they (BJP) have If they had the guts, they would have admitted that they said this earlier.
Additional Chief Secretary (Cabinet) S Siddharth said on Tuesday that the state cabinet has approved the Civil Aviation Ministry’s proposal to purchase a new long-haul aircraft and a helicopter to replace the obsolete aircraft and a defective helicopter for government purposes. He said the state currently has a six-seater propeller plane (King Air C-90A/B-VTEBG) and a Dauphin helicopter that are suffering from mechanical problems and are being repaired. The cabinet has decided to purchase a new jet engine aircraft (10+2 seater) and advanced helicopter for VIP and VVIP movement, he said. The process of procuring the new jet and helicopter will begin once the committee submits its report to the government.
