New Delhi/Bangalore, April 27: The country's civil aviation regulator on Friday said that it has set up a two-member panel to investigate into the cause of a snag reported in the aircraft which ferried Congress President Rahul Gandhi to Hubballi in Karnataka on Thursday.
According to a senior official with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), a "Falcon 2000 aircraft VT-AVH was involved in an incident while operating flight" from New Delhi to Hubballi.
"Operator has reported the incident to DGCA. As per operator report, it was snag of autopilot mode and pilot shifted to manual mode and aircraft landed safely. Autopilot failure incidents are not uncommon," a senior DGCA official told IANS in New Delhi.
"For any VIP flight DGCA investigates thoroughly. DGCA has set up a two member committee."
However, Hubballi Airport Director Ahilya S. Kakodikar said that no complaint has been received from the pilot of an aircraft which reportedly developed a snag when Gandhi was flying in it on Thursday.
"Neither the pilot nor the air traffic control (ATC) complained to me about the snag," Hubballi airport Director Ahilya S. Kakodikar told reporters.
The director of the airport, which is managed by the state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI), also stressed that the aircraft had landed safely.
"It was a safe landing. In case of any abnormalities, the ATC would have recorded it," she said.
The Congress on Thursday complained to the Karnataka Police that the Falcon 2000 aircraft in which Gandhi and four others flew to Hubballi, about 400km northwest of state capital Bengaluru, from Delhi had suffered a mid-air snag.
The complaint, addressed to the state's Director General of Police Neelamani N. Raju, requested the state police chief to "ground" the aircraft at Hubballi and investigate the malfunction.
Based on the complaint by Congress official Shakir Sanadi, the police in Hubballi lodged a First Information Report late on Thursday.
Gandhi arrived in Hubballi around 11.25 a.m. on Thursday on a two-day visit to the state to launch the party's campaign for the May 12 assembly elections.
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Hindu Ekta Sammelanams in Kerala mask sangh outreach through temple gatherings
Kochi: Temple premises in several parts of Kerala have been increasingly organizing programs calling for Hindu unity as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh celebrates its centenary year with outreach events across the country.
The News Minute reported that one such programme held on February 28 near Edappally in Kochi began with traditional performances, including chenda melam and a Thiruvathira dance at the Anjumana Devi temple ground, and transitioned into a “Hindu Ekta Sammelanam”. Organisers were quoted as saying that the objective of the event was “to bring together members of different Hindu communities by transcending caste, regional and linguistic differences.”
The RSS is celebrating its centenary year by nationwide series of conferences. These began on October 2, 2025. Reports indicate that more than one lakh such meetings are planned across India in 2026, with over 1,000 events scheduled in Kerala between February and March.
At the Edappally programme representatives of the Hindu Aikya Vedi and other spiritual leaders expressed their thoughts. Hindu Aikya Vedi state president R V Babu said the events are organised to strengthen a sense of unity among Hindus and encourage people to move beyond caste divisions.
Participants at the gathering included members of various organisations such as the Nair Service Society, Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam and representatives of other community groups. Some attendees said they viewed the events primarily as religious or cultural programmes organised around temples in their localities.
Criticizing the gatherings, leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that temple premises are being used to advance a political agenda under the cover of religious and cultural programs. The party’s youth wing, the Democratic Youth Federation of India, has opposed some of the events at the local level, arguing that religious spaces should not become platforms for ideological mobilisation.
Some attendees clarified that they participated viewing the programmes as temple-based community events rather than political meetings. Others acknowledged that discussions during the sessions included references to electoral participation and broader social themes.
Similar objections were raised in Kozhikode district, where local CPI(M) workers opposed a gathering linked to a temple committee. He argued that religious spaces should not be used for political mobilization, when Kerala is expected to go to Assembly polls in 2026.
