Maha Governor denied nod to travel in state plane to Dehradun

Mumbai: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari was scheduled to travel by a state government aircraft to Dehradun in Uttarakhand on Thursday, but the permission to use the plane was not granted even as the governor had boarded the aircraft, sources said.

The governor later took a commercial flight to travel to Dehradun, a statement from the Raj Bhavan said.

This comes amid uneasy ties between the state's Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition government and the governor, with both the sides have being critical of each other in the past. The Raj Bhavan statement said thegovernor's secretariat had written to the government authorities seeking permission for the use of aircraft "well in advance" on February 2.

The office of the chief minister was also informed about it, the statement said.

When asked about the issue, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister AjitPawar told reporters here he had no clue and will be able to comment after gathering information.

However, the opposition BJP in Maharashtra accused the state government of being "egoistic" and indulging in "childish acts", and demanded an apology from the Shiv Sena- led dispensation over this.

According to the Raj Bhavan statement, Koshyari is scheduled to preside over valedictory function of the 122nd Induction Training Programme of IAS officers at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie in Uttarakhand on Friday.

He was scheduled to depart from the ChhatrapatiShivajiMaharaj International Airport in Mumbai for Dehradun at 10 am on Thursday, the statement said.

Koshyari will travel to Mussoorie from Dehradun.

"Today, on 11th February 2021, the Honble Governor reached the CSIM Airport at 1000 hrs and boarded the government plane. However, the Honble Governor was informed that the permission for the use of Government Aircraft had not been received," the statement said.

As directed by the governor, tickets for Dehradun were booked for the governor on a commercial aircraft leaving Mumbai at 12.15 pm immediately and accordingly, he left for Dehradun, it said. Earlier, a source said, "Normally, governors do not wait for the permission to come. He sat in the aircraft.