Abhishek uses Hemant’s copter to fly to Birbhum, blames ‘Bangla Birodhis’
Times of India | 7 January 2026
Kolkata: A delay in getting regulatory clearances allegedly held back Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's helicopter at Behala Flying Club on Tuesday while he was on his way to Birbhum for a public meeting.
Banerjee reached the programme nearly 2 hours behind schedule, using Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's helicopter for the onward journey, and returned to Kolkata by car. The TMC neta blamed alleged "anti-Bengal forces" for delaying his copter's clearances.
Banerjee was scheduled to depart around 12.30 pm but could not take off as mandatory DGCA clearances were not received. After arranging an alternative aircraft, he finally departed around 2.20 pm.
"I spoke to Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, requesting him to allow me to use his helicopter so that I was able to reach this venue at a respectable time. If they are determined to stop me from reaching this meeting, I am 10 times more stubborn than they are," Banerjee said, addressing the gathering at Rampurhat on Tuesday afternoon.
"I was late in reaching this venue because of a conspiracy by ‘Bangla Birodhis' (those who oppose Bengal)," he added.
The helicopter on which Banerjee was scheduled to travel was a new one supposed to fly for the first time on Tuesday and some regulatory certification and paperwork was due to be cleared from Delhi, which forced DGCA to stop its movement.
Banerjee's late arrival didn't change his plans though. After the meeting, he visited Sunali Khatun's newborn son at Rampurhat Medical College and finally visited Tarapith Kali Temple before returning home.