(Image source from: Bnn.network)

Telangana Elections: Huge demand for Choppers:- For high-ranking officials, helicopters are a preferred mode of transport since it allows them to attend multiple engagements in a single day. As the Telangana Assembly elections move into the final two weeks, political parties have taken to hiring additional helicopters to better facilitate the presence of luminary campaigners in order to bolster the prospects of their candidates.

Since the election notification was announced, State leaders have been on a heli-hopping spree, traversing the entire area. K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the BRS president and Chief Minister, has been conducting three to four rallies a day, while other parties have also acquired choppers. BRS has hired two helicopters, one exclusively for the CM and the other as a backup. The latter is used by the BRS working president and IT Minister K. T. Rama Rao along with the Finance Minister T. Harish Rao. In the initial phase, KCR covered more than 50 constituencies in 18 days, and is now in the second stage of campaigning, attending at least three public meetings.

For the BJP, three helicopters have been readied. One has been allocated to the BJP's national general secretary and Karimnagar MP, Bandi Sanjay, and the other is with the Election Management Committee chairperson, Etala Rajender. The third one is used by the central leadership. The presence of Mr. Bandi Sanjay and Mr. Etala Rajender at their party's election rallies is desired by the candidates, and thus the central leadership has requisitioned two helicopters for them.

For its election campaign, the Congress has hired one helicopter currently being utilised by the TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy. According to Congress sources, two more helicopters will be made ready for the star campaigners, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. Mr. Revanth Reddy is highly in demand and is touring the constituencies with great speed. The Airport Authorities of India (AAI) at Begumpet Airport have been asked to provide space for more helicopters, as reported by official sources. It is said that these choppers are for the political campaign and the star campaigners are making use of both twin-engine and single-engine models.