Rajasthan CM Gehlot accuses MHA of misleading people regarding permission for helicopter

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused the Union home ministry on Saturday of giving wrong facts to mislead the public regarding the issue of permission to a helicopter for him from Udaipur to Jaipur, which led to the cancellation of one of his programmes in Sikar. Reacting to a clarification given by a Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson on X, Gehlot said the MHA has made an unsuccessful attempt to spread confusion among the public by giving out wrong information.

The MHA spokesperson said: "In a news report, Rajasthan Chief Minister has claimed denial of approval for his helicopter flight by the MHA. Four requests were received from CM Rajasthan for flight permissions, including for Sikar, and all were approved by the MHA.

"No request from CM Rajasthan has been denied. While all scheduled flights of commercial aircraft and movement of governors and state chief ministers on their state aircraft are allowed, private chartered flights require specific MHA approval."


Reacting to this, Gehlot said he had a plan to go from Udaipur to Jaipur by an airplane and then from Jaipur to Sikar and from Sikar to Niwai by a helicopter on Friday.

"For this, the helicopter had to reach Jaipur from Udaipur in advance, but it was said that due to the protocol of G20, the helicopter or plane can travel only when the CM himself is on board," he said.

The veteran Congress leader said the permission to fly the helicopter was sought through an e-mail at 10.48 am on Friday, but it was not received till 2.50 pm and in order to inform the public waiting for him in Sikar, he put out a post on X at 2.52 pm and explained why was he unable to go there.

"After this, permission came at 3.58 pm but by then I had left Udaipur for Jaipur by plane and after reaching Jaipur, I went to Niwai by road," he said.

"I did not want to create any controversy in the name of G20, hence did not condemn it and only informed the public about the facts. But now I am sad that the Home Ministry has made an unsuccessful attempt to spread confusion among the public by giving wrong information," Gehlot added.