GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has fired back at the opposition amidst mounting criticism over the disclosure of a whopping Rs 58,23,07,104 spent from the state exchequer on airlifting and helicopter charges for the Chief Minister and other dignitaries between May 10, 2021, and January 30, 2024.
Dismissing the uproar as “paid propaganda” orchestrated by the opposition, Sarma asserted that the utilisation of helicopters for official engagements was not unique to his government, citing precedents set by previous administrations.
In a post on a micro-blogging website, he countered, “Opposition and its paid propaganda outlets have no issues to raise, so now they are remembering helicopters. Every CM, including INDI Alliance CMs, uses a chopper else it’s impossible to attend multiple programmes across the state in a single day.”
Sarma also highlighted that helicopters were a necessity, not a luxury, for traversing the vast expanse of Assam efficiently, particularly considering the challenging weather conditions prevalent in the region.
“If you believe our helicopter travel is for leisure and enjoyment, you are mistaken. When navigating through dense clouds over Kaziranga, all we can do is pray for a safe landing. It’s far from a leisurely experience,” he remarked on the floor of the Assembly on February 8.
The controversy emerged in response to queries posed by Sivasagar MLA and Raijor Dal leader, Akhil Gogoi, prompting the government to disclose the expenditures.
However, the government’s response, while shedding light on the overall spending, notably omitted a detailed breakdown of expenses specifically attributed to former Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s flights, drawing scrutiny.
The disclosed figures revealed a substantial trend – Rs. 10,19,81,946 expended between May 10, 2021, and December 31, 2022.
In the subsequent fiscal year 2022-2023, an astonishing Rs 34,01,05,848 was allocated for chartering flights and helicopters, with an additional Rs 14,02,19,313 disbursed for similar purposes from January 2023 to January 2024.
However, discrepancies surfaced between the figures disclosed by the Sarma government in the assembly and those provided in response to a Right to Information (RTI) inquiry by a Guwahati-based news portal.
Furthermore, the RTI revelation uncovered lavish expenditures on the Chief Minister’s non-governmental activities, including attending high-profile weddings and engaging in partisan campaigns, allegedly violating electoral codes of conduct.
In defence, the Chief Minister’s office dismissed the RTI report as a “hit job” and claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had funded Sarma’s non-governmental engagements, though concrete evidence supporting this assertion remains elusive.
