Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Politicians Protest As 'Aerial Surveys' Hampered By Victims

By Kishwarnath Dubey / Delhi

Politicians from various parties have come together at Dehradun airport to protest against the excessive use of helicopters by the stranded pilgrims in Uttarakhand. These politicians are upset that their aerial surveys of the flood-hit Uttarakhand state have been frequently canceled because the helicopters were not free.

Speaking to INN, a representative of the politicians said, “See, these aerial surveys are very important to maintain the secular fabric of the country and we haven’t been able to put in as many surveys as we want because the helicopters are always busy.
They are either full of rations for the pilgrims or they are full of pilgrims themselves, when will we get to ride?”

Another politician present at the scene said, “We are answerable to the public which has elected us. Tomorrow with what face will we go and ask for votes if we go back from here without doing any surveys? All the time you hound us saying we don’t work and now when we want to work, you don’t want to give us the helicopters. We can’t be seen as sitting idle! Rival party’s minister got 9 minutes on primetime news today, I got only 2. I have to make up those 7 minutes within next 24 hours.”

“It would have been better if we had gone to Europe like some senior leaders. We are wasting our summer vacations here and aren’t even getting the opportunity to do something for the people,” the upset leader concluded.

Some politicians were present at the site with their entire families in tow. As per sources, they had promised a free helicopter ride of the Himalayas to their kids and were upset that they weren’t able to fulfill their promise.

Politicians from almost every political party were present at the protest site. The unity, generally reserved to oppose Lokpal bill or shown during BCCI meetings, was on full display as leaders from different parties backed each other’s demand for more helicopters for politicians.

When we asked an Indian Air Force officer how did it feel being a citizen of the country and ferrying VIPs, he said, “Feels similar to what that guy must have felt who carried a TV journalist on his shoulders.”

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