Amid Trinamool split, Abhishek Banerjee’s Delhi visit by private jet sparks fresh political row

New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) For some time, Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee’s means of travel — especially between Kolkata and Delhi — has been a subject of political discussions which has increased in pitch since his Friday visit to call upon the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

The party’s de-facto number two was in Delhi on Friday to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Birla and contest the legitimacy of a rebel faction within the Trinamool Congress.

He urged the Speaker not to recognise the breakaway group of 20 MPs who claimed to merge with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) and sought their disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

Abhishek Banerjee was accompanied by Trinamool MPs Mahua Moitra, Kalyan Banerjee, Saugata Roy, and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien.

He reportedly made the journey aboard a private jet, chartered from a private aviation company which has an office in Kolkata.

According to information available on public domain, chartering such a flight with overnight stay in Delhi would typically incur anything between Rs 30,00,000 to more than Rs 1,00,00,000 depending on the type of aircraft.

Reports published in the regional media suggest that the preferred model for travel in such trips is the Legacy 600 or the larger Embraer ERJ-135LR, and could cost somewhere around Rs 80,00,000 for a total flight time of about nine hours.

For smaller aircrafts, the average rent may come to around Rs 5 lakh per hour.

Additionally, extra cost may be incurred in parking or hiring a hangar to house the aircraft.

While the gruelling schedule for political leaders during elections require them to use helicopters or small aircrafts, Parliamentarians travelling from their constituency to the national capital are usually compensated as per their prescribed salary structure.

In the 2011 Assembly election, when the Trinamool Congress breached West Bengal’s Left fortress, Mamata Banerjee had claimed that the expenses for the helicopter she used in her campaigns was met by ally Congress.

Since then, the Trinamool Congress has contested independently, where expenses have mounted to around Rs 46 crore as charges for aerial travels.

Abhishek Banerjee is said to have been using chartered flights for his recent Delhi visits, which were talked about, but not as loudly.

After the recent Assembly poll debacle, such travels — especially for the short visit on Friday — has come under flak from not only critics, but even Trinamool Congress leaders.

Trinamool Congress MLA and spokesperson, Kunal Ghosh, said that he was not aware how Abhishek Banerjee travelled to Delhi, but if he did, “and if it was at the party’s expenses, then I do not support it”.

When asked in Delhi about Kunal Ghosh’s remarks, Abhishek Banerjee tried to avoid a direct answer, but did not deny or acknowledge travelling aboard a chartered airplane.

But he added that if such complainants submit in writing, he would travel economy class.

On Kunal Ghosh’s statement specifically, Abhishek Banerjee said that the Beleghata MLA (Kunal Ghosh) was a colleague, and even if he has said so, he will refrain from an answer.

The issue has gained flight amid the party’s recent collapse and various incidents of public uproar against Trinamool leaders and workers over alleged financial irregularities.

Following some complaints, a part of the party’s bank accounts has also been frozen recently.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress is facing a rebellion, with significant numbers of its elected representatives in both Assembly and Parliament preferring to break away.

Rebel Trinamool leader Ritabrata Banerjee, functioning as the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, also questioned Abhishek Banerjee’s spending “Rs 4-5 crore” in air travel between Kolkata and Delhi.

Ritabrata Banerjee wanted to know why this money can not be used in the beleaguered party members’ defence.

The rebel Trinamool faction alleged that party workers facing attacks after the recent poll debacle have no money to fight cases, where there are incidents of mortgaging gold to pay for party workers’ legal expenses.

Incidentally, a few days ago, MP Shatabdi Roy, who joined the rebel Trinamool camp, also spoke about Abhishek Banerjee’s luxurious lifestyle.

Disgruntled Trinamool leaders have raised their voice against the party General Secretary’s (Abhishek Banerjee’s) way of functioning, as well as his lifestyle.

They allege that the years of agitation and hardship endured by senior party leaders, mainly Mamata Banerjee herself, that led to the rise of the Trinamool Congress is lost in the opulence.

–IANS

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