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‘Did not want to create controversy but…’: Gehlot responds to home ministry's statement on ‘approval’ for his flight
“I did not want to create any controversy in the name of G-20, hence did not condemn it," Ashok Gehlot said.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday responded to the Ministry of Home Affairs after it put out a statement saying it had not barred any flights of Chief Ministers or Governors due to the ongoing G20 Summit. In a post on X Gehlot wrote in Hindi, “Yesterday I had a plan to go from Udaipur to Jaipur by plane and from Jaipur to Sikar and from Sikar to Niwai by helicopter. For this, the helicopter had to reach Jaipur from Udaipur in advance, but it was said that due to the protocol of G-20, the helicopter or plane can travel only when the CM himself is on board.”
The chief minister further said that permission for the flight was sought in the morning but was approved only in the evening after he posted on social media about the inconvenience. “Permission to fly the helicopter was sought through e-mail at 10.48 AM but permission was not received till 2.50 PM. I tweeted at 2.52 PM and explained to the people the reason for not being able to come and also called Shri Om Das Maharaj at Sangliya Peeth and informed him. After this, permission came at 3.58 PM but by then I had left from Udaipur for Jaipur by plane and after reaching Jaipur, I was cleared by road,” Gehlot added.
“I did not want to create any controversy in the name of G-20, 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,” he said.
In a post on X earlier, the Union home ministry said that no request from the Rajasthan CM was denied and that all four requests received from him in connection with flight permissions were approved.
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Ashok Gehlot on Friday said that the MHA denied approval for his flight from Udaipur to Sikar in view of the G20 Summit. “Today, there was a program to visit Sanglia Peeth, Sikar in the program of death anniversary of Baba Shri Khinwadas Ji Maharaj, but due to G-20 meeting, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India did not allow helicopter to go from Udaipur to Sikar in the airspace, due to which I am unable to reach Sanglia Peeth,” Gehlot said earlier.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel made a similar claim earlier. Baghel said that he would not be able to attend the President’s G20 dinner as there were no non-scheduled flights going in and out of Delhi. “Bhai, no flying zone ho gaya hai ab toh. Kaise jayenge (Delhi has become a no-fly zone now. How will I go?),” he said.
