Govt to probe if Prashant Kishor took cargo flight to Kolkata, he denies charge
Denying the allegation,election strategist Prashant Kishor said the media reports are false. “I have not been to any airport after March 19. If anyone has any information contrary to this, they must put the details in the public domain.”
The Centre is investigating allegations that election strategist Prashant Kishor hopped on to a cargo flight from New Delhi to Kolkata, government officials familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
The enquiry follows news reports that the election strategist was urgently summoned by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for consultations even as the state and the Centre traded charges over the former’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have begun an enquiry and asked the airports to check whether Kishor defied lockdown orders and attempted to take a flight. Information has been sought from the airlines as well,” a senior civil aviation ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
Denying the allegation, Kishor said the media reports are false. “I have not been to any airport after March 19. If anyone has any information contrary to this, they must put the details in the public domain.”
Kishor flew out of Kolkata on March 19 after a series of meetings with the state government. The lockdown was announced a few days later.
“We have asked airlines who were operating cargo flights to Kolkata and they have denied any involvement,” a senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on condition of anonymity.
Both international and domestic passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 22 and March 25, respectively. Only cargo flights have been allowed to operate. Thus far, 347 cargo flights have operated since the lockdown.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has pulled up the West Bengal government over its handling of the lockdown and the Covid-19 crisis in the state in at least three letters written in the past week.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee hired the Kishor-led I-PAC in June last year after the the Lok Sabha election. The BJP won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, only four fewer than the TMC’s 22.
In July, I-PAC kicked off an outreach campaign – ‘Didi Ke Bolo’ (Tell Didi) with the aim to reach out to at least 80% of the 16 million crore households in West Bengal over the following 20 months.
The assembly elections in the state are scheduled for 2021.
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