Cash ban grounds chopper campaigns in Punjab

Demonetisation has taken the wind out of the sails of political parties in Punjab. In the run-up to the last polls, parties had hired helicopters to ferry star campaigners, but not this time.

CHANDIGARH: Demonetisation has taken the wind out of the sails of political parties in Punjab. In the run-up to the last polls, parties had hired helicopters to ferry star campaigners, but not this time.
Once the poll code of conduct is implemented, all state-owned choppers will be grounded and CM Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal and other leaders will have to hire them. The Badals don’t seem to be too worried as their Orbit Aviation Ltd has helicopters.

The BJP will use a rath built for state party chief Vijay Sampla. The air-conditioned bus is built on a Mercedes Benz chassis for Rs 1 crore. It is divided into two into two parts, a conference room with a sitting capacity of five people where meeting can be held, and a living room with a sofa-cum-bed. It also has a modern kitchen, a toilet, LED TV and 4G Internet. A hydraulic lift will take the candidate to the roof to address people.

An official of JayCee Coach Builders, who built the bus, said: “This year we made a rath for UP CM Akhilesh Yadav, which was not bulletproof. Last year, we built two bulletproof raths for Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu. Demonetisation seems to have had an effect.”

Parties hire helicopters to ferry campaigners
ahead of polls

Sampla has started his yatra in the state in a rath built by another firm. “The rath is a stage from which party leaders will address the public. It is ultra-modern with all facilities,” said Vineet Joshi, secretary of Punjab BJP. The eight-day Vijay Sankalp Rath Yatra, which started from Hussainiwala on Thursday, will traverse all 23 Assembly constituencies and will culminate in Amritsar on January 8.

SAD leader Mahesh Inder Singh Grewal lauded denomitisation and said “elections will be clean”. Orders for banners and other publicity material are also low due to lack of money. Each candidate spends much more than the Rs 28 lakh EC limit. Punjab Congress leader and spokesperson Sunil Jakhar said, “As banks have set a weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000, how can candidates meet their daily expenses for their campaigns? We will meet EC officials in this regard and request them that the limit should be increased to at least Rs 50,000 daily.”
AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira said, “People who want to donate money can’t now, so polls will be less expensive this time”.