Prime Minister's plane hit by technical problem in Jharkhand, another sent from Delhi

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aircraft suffered a technical snag at Deoghar in Jharkhand this afternoon. The aircraft will now have to remain at the airport until the technical fault is fixed and another plane is being sent to Deoghar from New Delhi, causing a delay in the PM's return to the capital. 


The Prime Minister addressed two rallies in Jharkhand today on the occasion of tribal icon Birsa Munda's anniversary, which is celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, and ahead of the second round of polling for the Assembly elections in the state on November 20.


Barely 80 km away from Deoghar, in Jharkhand's Godda, Rahul Gandhi's helicopter remained grounded for 45 minutes awaiting clearance from the air traffic control, prompting the Congress to claim that the delay was deliberate to disrupt the campaign schedule of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. 


The Congress had pointed to the PM's rally near Deoghar, suggesting that his event was being prioritised over Mr Gandhi's movements. The chopper was allowed to take off 45 minutes later. 


In his rallies earlier in the day, PM Modi hit out at the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. Reiterating his "shehzada" (prince) jibe, the Prime Minister accused Mr Gandhi of conspiring to scrap reservations for people belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and other backward classes (OBC) communities to "weaken" them.


"The Congress has dangerous intentions. The Congress' "shehzada" is conspiring to scrap reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs. The prince's father had declared reservation as slavery, bonded labour but he was later defeated in elections. His father had issued advertisements to remove reservations... We will thwart any such conspiracy," PM Modi said.


He also claimed that the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which is in an alliance with the Congress, was helping "infiltrators" become permanent residents in Jharkhand, a charge levelled by several other BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah. 


At the rally in Godda district, Rahul Gandhi pushed for a nationwide caste census, claiming it would change the face of India. 


"Caste census is bound to happen... We will demolish the 50 per cent reservation ceiling, PM Modi can do whatever he can," he said. 


Polling in the second phase for the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will take place on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23. 


(With inputs from PTI)