E-Paper
Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Kota airport issue takes off in poll season
A small airport of the erstwhile royal days exists in Kota where only VIP or emergency landings are done in the absence of regular flight services. An expansion of the airport has gained urgency with the growth of Kota as a coaching city where around 1.50 lakh students come every year for admission to different institutes.
The Congress and the BJP have accused each other of failing to work for expansion of the Kota airport, making it an issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
A small airport of the erstwhile royal days exists in Kota where only VIP or emergency landings are done in the absence of regular flight services. An expansion of the airport has gained urgency with the growth of Kota as a coaching city where around 1.50 lakh students come every year for admission to different institutes.
Flights continued to operate at the Kota airport till 1994 but an industrial recession led to a drop in air traffic. On the demand of the city’s residents, politicians have been pitching for restart of the existing Kota airport and also establishment of a bigger airport.
Ramnarayan Meena, former MP and Congress candidate from the Kota-Bundi parliamentary constituency, has accused sitting BJP MP Om Birla of failing to restart flights from the existing airport and establish a new airport in Kota.
“When I was a Member of Parliament for 13 months in 1998, I had pursued the new airport project at Shambhupura in Kota. Later, the BJP continuously won the Lok Sabha polls for the next one decade, but nothing was done for establishing a bigger airport at Kota,” he said.
The BJP, on the other hand, has accused the Congress of doing politics on the Kota airport issue. “We have made efforts to restart flights from the Kota airport and even started flights under intra-air connectivity scheme of the former BJP-led state government. The Congress did nothing when it was in government at the Centre,” said Om Birla, BJP candidate and sitting BJP MP. “I am ready to push the proposal for a new airport provided the Congress-led state government offers land.”
The airport proposal was an issue in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as well. Birla had claimed that he would start flights from the Kota airport if he gets elected and Modi becomes the Prime Minister.
After winning the polls, Birla did make efforts for resumption of the flights from the Kota airport and Kota-Jaipur-Kota flights operated for around 8 months from August 2017 to April 2018. Flights discontinued thereafter following technical issues between Kota airport authorities and the private airline company.
Congress national president Rahul Gandhi promised during the 2018 assembly poll campaign that a new airport will be built in Kota if the Congress forms a government at the Centre.
Rahul Gandhi had even written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for starting of commercial flights from the existing airport in Kota.
