Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew this morning in a sea-plane from the Sabarmati River here to Dharoi Dam in Mehsana district on the last day of campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly polls.
Modi boarded the single-engine sea-plane from near the Sardar Bridge connecting the old city with Ahmedabad West, the first-ever flight by such a craft in the country. A special jetty was constructed to facilitate the prime minister's boarding from the river. The plane took off from the Sardar Bridge-end amid chants of "Modi-Modi" from BJP workers and other city dwellers, who flocked the Sabarmati Riverfront to witness this one-of-a-kind event.
The plane landed at Dharoi Dam reservoir in Mehsana.
From Dharoi, the prime minister proceeded to Ambaji Temple in Banaskantha district via road. After visiting the temple, he would return to Ahmedabad by the sea-plane in the evening. Modi had yesterday said at a poll rally that today, for the first time in the history of the country, a sea-plane will land on the Sabarmati river. "I will go to Ambaji in the sea-plane after landing in Dharoi dam and come back," he said.
He said the BJP had planned a road show for today in Ahmedabad.
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"However, the administration has not given permission and I had time so I decided to go to Ambaji in the sea-plane," Modi had said. "We cannot have airports everywhere, so our government has planned to have these sea-planes," he said. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani yesterday said this is for the first time in the country's history that a sea-plane will land on a water body and that will be the Sabarmati river.
However, reacting to this incident, National Conference leader and ex-J&K CM Omar Abdullah accused that security guidelines were relaxed for PM Modi's sea-plane ride. Pointing out towards technical aspects of a sea-plane, he said :
He followed it up with another quote where he said, "Single engine plane. Foreign pilots. Is there any security guideline that will not be thrown out today?"
Rahul Gandhi reacted to PM Modi flying in a sea-plane terming it as a 'distraction' between the elections.
With PTI inputs
