Plane with Rahul Gandhi on board suffers engine trouble en route Patna

Rahul Gandhi was travelling to Patna for an election rally in Bihar's Samastipur but the engine trouble forced the plane he was in to return to New Delhi.

File photo

New Delhi: The schedule of Rahul Gandhi's rallies in Bihar on Friday suffered delays after his flight to Patna had to return to New Delhi after developing engine problems.

The Congress chief tweeted that the plane taking him to Patna from the capital suffered engine trouble and was forced to return. He also said that the rallies he was scheduled to address on Friday - in Bihar's Samastipur, Balasore in Odisha and Maharashtra's Sangamner - would be delayed, apologising for the same as well.

Engine trouble on our flight to Patna today! We’ve been forced to return to Delhi. Today’s meetings in Samastipur (Bihar), Balasore (Orissa) & Sangamner (Maharashta) will run late. Apologies for the inconvenience. pic.twitter.com/jfLLjYAgcO — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 26, 2019

Rahul is an SPG (Special Protection Group) protectee and therefore, a thorough investigation into the engine trouble of the plane he was in is now expected.

This is not the first time that Rahul has had to face trouble in the air. In April of last year, a small plane -  VT- AVH Falcon 2000- he was in developed a snag and reportedly went into 'free fall' before making a recovery and landing at the Hubli airport with considerable difficulty. At the time, Congress hinted at a conspiracy and had even filed a written complaint to Karnataka police chief.

And earlier this month, Congress had once again alleged that there is a threat to Rahul's life after a green light was seen flashing on his face during an impromptu press interaction at an election rally. The party said it could be a sniper light even though it was later found that the light was from a camera of an AICC photographer.