The mythic Ram had the mythic Pushpak to return home from victory; latter day warriors have choppers to secure victory with. All manner of them, all whirring, flying, stopping, hopping, chopping battleships.
Election time in India is not like election time anywhere else in the world. Our elections, like our lives, are more colourful and just much more dramatic than those, let’s say, in the US. Move over presidential debates, our elections have that thing called chutzpah.
While there are only a few states that are currently polling, if you turn on any television news, the war is decidedly on. Political campaigns are driven with an essential element of theatrics and demonstration of the spectacular kind. There are, everywhere, those milling hordes — Bharat ki aam janata — come to evaluate their candidates at political rallies and sabhas. And then there are the evaluated — the aspiring or existing netas of the Bharat ki aam janata — out gathering as much moss as they can while being a constantly on the move rolling-stone-rockstar campaigner. Leaders and “star campaigners” juggle responsibilities from one state to another armed with quiver-fulls of barbed, high-pitched slogans and carefully worded (or not!) speeches; with them is a constant presence. Their carriers. The helicopters, or choppers, that ferry politicians from one place to another and then, often, to Delhi and to the seats of power. They are truly the unsung heroes of the Indian democratic system, the machines that make it churn, election after election. Imagine a election without choppers today and you might well be thinking veg biryani! There is no such thing.
Who is to say who was the first Indian politician to use a helicopter for the long and far-flung commute during elections? But today, it is de rigeur. No chopper? What sort of neta are you, man? Chop-chop! Novice or veteran, the chopper is the new khadi to the Indian politician, essential-wear. Some of them have also become rather adept at it, I mean the art of riding choppers, even navigating them. Perhaps came from doing it all too often. Or perhaps it is also a function of knowing your home-patch well, always a good quality in a politician. Lalu Prasad, in his day, used to be able to tell pilots which way to turn and where exactly to drop looking at villages and fields and other landmarks. He knew Bihar from the sky like the back of his palm. So did Sharad Pawar. The story, probably apocryphal, goes that once the navigation tools on his chopper went on the blink mid-air and he told the pilot, worry not. He took the seat beside him and guided him from Satara to Mumbai, marking plot after plot of land they were flying over. Apparently Pawar owned all the plots!
Lalu Prasad boarding a chopper The Telegraph file picture
The daily and complex commute is not the only reason helicopters are used in election campaigns. They are show-stoppers, devices that gather a crowd, generate awe, inspire thrill, the very central act of the drama of elections. Speeches can be boring and inaccurate (sometimes, even intentionally!) but the distant drone of the arriving chopper, the way it churns up dust, the way it disgorges the political star from its belly, the way, eventually, it departs in another typhoon of dust, becomes an experience extraordinaire for the meek millions who have spent most of their lives waiting for the ceiling fans in their homes to move.
A regular charter can cost anywhere between Rs 70,000 and Rs 4 lakh for an hour depending on the distance, model and condition of the chopper. But it is mostly seen as a basic expenditure in campaigns. Often, netas travel with their fancy home-made canteens — all manner of meals, specially made to order. Some, or actually very many, are on diet foods, but there are some that can’t do without their rich fare. One neta, famously, would fetch lush meals of parathas and pilafs and mutton-chicken kebabs and curries each day. For the crew, and the accompanying cast, it would be a daily picnic in the air. On the flip side, there have been quite a few fatal accidents involving helicopters and politicians. But no one seems to be complaining.
The money involved in hiring and operating these aircraft is no joke either. Who pays? Who’s to ask? There are parties that manage to corner most of the available choppers even before campaigning begins. Well, the idea is to be the early bird and, probably, also to make choppers hard to find for the rival parties. Some might call it a cheap trick but the final word remains with those who have deep pockets.
