UP's Varanasi airport denies charges Rahul Gandhi's jet plane

Congress on Tuesday alleged that MP Rahul Gandhi's plane was denied permission to land at the Varanasi Airport, a charge that has been refuted by authorities at the Uttar Pradesh airport.

According to the Varanasi Airport, the company operating the charted flight of Rahul Gandhi had written to them last night informing the air traffic controller about the cancellation of the Congress leader's plan to land at the airport.

"The flight was cancelled by M/S AR Airways by sending an email to AAI Varanasi Airport at 2116 hrs on 13th Feb.Please correct your statement as the flight was cancelled by the operator", a tweet from Varanasi Airport said.

Earlier in the day, the Congress had alleged that Rahul Gandhi's plane had been denied permission to land at Varanasi's Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport late on Monday night.

Congress leader Ajay Rai alleged that the airport authorities did not grant permission as they were under pressure, and they used President Droupadi Murmu's visit to Lucknow and Varanasi as an "excuse".

Rai claimed that Rahul Gandhi's flight was scheduled to land at Varanasi airport on Monday night but was "deliberately" not given permission.

"Rahul Gandhi was scheduled to arrive here (Lucknow) and then go to Prayagraj, but the airport authority did not allow his plane to land due to pressure from the government. They said there is heavy aircraft movement and traffic congestion and did not give permission," Rai alleged.

The Congress leader also said that the BJP government was "scared" of Rahul Gandhi and hence they did not allow the plane to land at the airport in Varanasi.

"Prime Minister of the country has been anxious since Rahul Gandhi led the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Now, they are troubling Rahul," he added.

The Congress MP from Wayanad was scheduled to arrive in Varanasi on Monday night and to offer prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple today.

Notably, President Murmu visited Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple on Monday evening after offering prayers at the Kotwal Baba Kaal Bhairav temple in Varanasi.

During her visit to Kashi for the first time, the President also attended the grand Ganga Aarti at the Dashashwamedh Ghat in the evening, a statement from the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's Office said.

( With inputs from ANI )