Pilot averted head-on collision with another plane: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata, March 7: Two days after her chartered flight experienced mid-air turbulence, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said another aircraft had come in front of her plane, and it was the prompt action of the pilot that averted a head-on collision.
Banerjee also stated that the plane did not fall into any air pocket, rebuffing reports that had claimed otherwise.
The Bengal government had on Saturday sought a report from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after Banerjee's aircraft encountered turbulence, leaving her back and chest injured.
The state government also sought to know from the DGCA if approval was accorded for the route taken by Banerjee's chartered flight.
She was returning from Uttar Pradesh after winding up her campaign for the Samajwadi Party.
"Another plane, all of a sudden, came in front of my aircraft. If the situation had continued for 10 more seconds, there would have been a head-on collision. It was due to the efficiency of the pilot that I survived. The plane climbed down 6,000 feet. I suffered injuries on my back and chest. I still have pain," she told reporters in the Assembly.
On Friday evening, a chartered flight carrying Banerjee from Varanasi to the city faced turbulence, causing the plane to rock violently.
The pilot managed to land it safely at Netaji Subhas Chandra International Airport. However, Banerjee suffered injuries caused by the steep climb-down the flight had to make to cope with the turbulence.
The CM was on board a Dassault Falcon 2000, which is a 10.3-tonne lightweight plane with a capacity of carrying a maximum of 19 people, including two flight attendants.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
