Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Spent Public Money to Charter Flights for BJP Activity and Weddings: RTI

This information report is a collaboration between The Wire and Guwahati-based information portal, The CrossCurrent.

Guwahati/New Delhi: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma used state authorities funds amounting to crores of rupees to rent helicopters and chartered planes to marketing campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party, each inside and outdoors the state, Right to Information replies from the Assam authorities have revealed. This is a prima facie violation of the Election Commission’s mannequin code of conduct.

RTI requests filed by The CrossCurrent on August 26, 2022, additionally reveal that Sarma hired chartered planes with taxpayers’ cash to attend various weddings, other than occasion conferences. No authorities is meant to spend any public funds on non-official work. ‘Non-official work’ naturally contains party-related actions and attending non-public events – neither of which might be paid for by public funds.

In September, the Sarma authorities had claimed within the state meeting that the cash spent on hiring chartered planes have been solely for authorities programmes. 

Initially, the state’s General Administration Department didn’t reply to the RTI software filed in August 2022, looking for info on such monetary overheads of the federal government. On September 30, 2023, Pradip Sarma, below secretary and State Public Information Officer on the division, shared some info solely after the State Information Commission – responding to The CrossCurrent’s enchantment – directed it to accomplish that on August 8, 2023.  

Though the RTI software had sought such particulars from May 10, 2021, until the time of reply, the knowledge offered by the division even after the Commission’s course, has solely been partial. 

Additionally, the reporters filed a separate RTI request with the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC), associated to the division hiring chartered flights for the chief minister’s use as such providers are routed by means of ATDC by the state administration. The ATDC is but to reply, regardless that three months have handed. This is in violation of the RTI Act 2005 which says the officers designated as the primary appellate authority should reply to an RTI question within 30 days.

Not mannequin conduct

As per clause 7 (a) of the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct, “The ministers shall not combine their official visit with electioneering work and shall not also make use of official machinery or personnel during the electioneering work.”

Clause 7 (b) explicitly states that “government transport including official aircrafts, vehicles, machinery and personnel shall not be used for furtherance of the interest of the party in power.”

However, government-provided info, although partial, and photographic proof from Sarma’s personal social media handles have proven that the chief minister violated the code at the very least 5 occasions, by utilizing Assam authorities funded helicopters to marketing campaign for the candidates of his occasion’s allies. 

1. As per the RTI reply, Sarma used a state exchequer-funded helicopter on October 17, 2021, to fly from Guwahati to Tamulpur and again. That day, Sarma was seen campaigning for a candidate of the BJP ally, the United People’s Party Liberal – Jolen Daimary – who was contesting in a by-election from the meeting seat of Tamulpur. 

2. The subsequent day, on October 18, 2021, Sarma once more used a helicopter paid for by the state authorities to journey from Guwahati to Gossaigaon. That day, he attended a memorial assembly there to pay tribute to Justin Lakra, founding president of All Adivasi Student Association of Assam. Sarma additionally attended an occasion organised for the Kati Bihu pageant. 

3. A day later, on October 19, 2021, the chief minister’s social media handles confirmed that he campaigned within the by-election, for one other United People’s Party Liberal candidate, Jiron Basumatary, at Gossaigaon.

4. On October 30, 2021, by-elections have been held additionally in Thowra, Mariani and Bhabanipur meeting constituencies in Assam apart from Gossaigaon and Tamulpur. While Sarma used helicopters to marketing campaign for his occasion in these constituencies too, it’s unclear who funded them because the state’s General Administration Department has not offered info particular to these journey dates. The by-poll to the Majuli meeting constituency was held on March 7, 2022. The seat had fallen vacant after former Assam chief minister and now Union minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, resigned from the seat, having been elected to the Rajya Sabha in September 2021. 

5. On February 16, 2022, BJP candidate Bhuban Gam filed his nomination papers to contest from the Majuli meeting seat. CM Sarma was current alongside Gam whereas he submitted his nomination papers in Majuli. The Sarma authorities’s RTI reply explicitly talked about that the chief minister flew to Majuli that day. Photographic proof confirmed that he had flown to the river island for the BJP’s, actions, utilizing a government-funded helicopter. 

Out of Assam, too

The dates talked about within the RTI replies reveal that Sarma used public cash to marketing campaign for the BJP outdoors the state too, together with within the Delhi municipal elections.

On January 30, 2023, Sarma as soon as once more used a state government-financed chartered flight to be in Tripura the place he was seen attending the submitting of the nomination papers in Bardowli constituency by his occasion colleague and chief minister Manik Saha to contest the meeting polls.

Sarma is perceived to be shut to the BJP’s nationwide management and is the occasion’s star campaigner. He is usually seen when the BJP’s regional leaders file nomination papers. He was additionally seen addressing election rallies for the occasion through the current meeting polls in Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana. Sarma went on these marketing campaign journeys for his occasion utilizing chartered flights. But info filed by his authorities doesn’t make it clear who paid for these rides. 

On February 21, 2023, Sarma was seen campaigning for BJP’s high chief in Nagaland, Temjen Ima Along. Since the Assam authorities gave the hiring particulars of chartered flights for the chief minister partially, it may well as soon as once more not be mentioned who had funded that journey for a celebration exercise to the neighbouring state by helicopter.  

Attending weddings in chartered flights

The dates talked about within the RTI replies on which the state authorities had chartered planes/helicopters additionally present that Sarma had used the state exchequer’s cash to attend as many as 5 weddings. 

This contains the marriage of the daughter of Nagaland chief minister Neiphu Rio on November 11, 2022. The RTI reply confirmed that journey to Nagaland had price the Assam exchequer Rs 14,08,562.

On January 31, 2023, Sarma additionally used an Assam government-funded chartered flight to fly to Lucknow. That day, the chief minister’s social media handles confirmed him attending Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak’s daughter’s wedding ceremony. That journey price the state exchequer a whopping Rs 23,43,750.

Three different dates on which the state authorities employed chartered flights for the chief minister tallied with him attending three extra weddings with taxpayers’ cash inside Assam. Those have been – BJP MLA Siddhartha Bhattacharjee’s daughter’s wedding ceremony reception at Dimoria close to Guwahati on January 20,2022; former chief of All Assam Bodo Students Union, Maneswar Daimary’s wedding ceremony in Kokrajhar on January 24, 2022; and Assam well being minister Keshab Chandra Mahanta’s brother and Asam Gana Parishad (AGP) chief Monimadhab Mahanta’s wedding ceremony at Hatbar space of Kaliabar in center Assam on February 1, 2023. 

On January 20, 2022, chief minister Sarma employed a chartered flight to journey to Haflong from Guwahati on official work however as a substitute of returning to Guwahati, he selected to take a detour to Dimoria, situated about 30 kms away, to attend his occasion colleague’s daughter’s wedding ceremony earlier than returning to Guwahati by air.

Chartered flights are billed hourly. 

Attending occasion conferences on state-funded particular flights

Going by the RTI knowledge offered by the Assam state authorities, between September 22, 2021 and January 24, 2023, Sarma used state-funded chartered planes at the very least seven occasions to attend BJP conferences, together with one in Hyderabad on January 9, 2022. 

The dates that tallied with the RTI replies given to The CrossCurrent confirmed that Sarma had attended 5 occasion conferences utilizing public cash inside Assam. They have been in Amingaon close to Guwahati on September 22, 2021; at Bongaigaon on November 25, 2021; at Morigaon on December 10, 2021 and January 24, 2023; and at Golaghat on February 5, 2022. 

On September 22, 2021, Sarma was in Bokakhat to attend a programme to destroy the stockpile of rhino horns seized throughout raids by the state authorities. Instead of returning to Guwahati, he took a detour to Amingaon to attend a celebration assembly.

On November 24, 2021, whereas Sarma was in Bongaigaon to attend a gathering of the state cupboard held there, he, nonetheless, stayed in a single day to have the ability to attend a celebration assembly the following day which additionally included inaugurating the BJP Bongaigaon district workplace within the presence of the occasion’s Assam president Bhabesh Kalita. On November 25, 2021, he was seen taking off from Bongaigaon to Guwahati within the chartered helicopter. 

While on December 20, 2021, Sarma had flown to Morigoan to inaugurate a newly constructed science constructing of the Morigaon College, his itinerary additionally included attending an occasion organised by BJP’s youth wing. It additionally meant that the state authorities had to pay in lakhs for the additional time he held up the return of the chartered flight to Guwahati by spending time at his occasion’s occasion.

Partial info

In September 2023, info offered by the state authorities to the Assam meeting had said that the full expenditure on hiring helicopters and chartered planes by the administration for the monetary yr 2022-23 was Rs 34,13,42,303. As said above, the written reply by the Sarma authorities had additionally categorically said that the quantity was spent only for government activities.

However, partial info equipped by the General Information Department to The CrossCurrent reveals that the quantity spent to constitution particular planes was Rs 19,74,62,659 for the monetary yr 2022-23. There is a discrepancy of Rs 14,38,79,644 between knowledge equipped to the meeting and what was shared by means of RTI replies. 

Context on guidelines for ‘official trips’

This December, after a video clip of your entire Karnataka cupboard chartering a flight to New Delhi had gone viral, the BJP accused the Congress-led authorities of losing taxpayers’ cash on “luxury lifestyles” whereas the state grappled with a extreme drought. The Congress, in a statement, had responded by stating that the leaders have been coming back from New Delhi after assembly Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union house minister Amit Shah over launch of funds for drought reduction – which was official work.

In September, the Maharashtra authorities amended guidelines for use of state-owned aircraft and helicopters to give simpler entry to the governor and the 2 deputy chief ministers, other than the chief minister, however stipulated that the aim of these makes use of additionally had to be official work. The tweaking of that authorities’s guidelines got here after the outgoing governor Bhagat Singh Koshiari was famously refused permission by the chief minister’s workplace to use the official plane to fly to Dehradun in 2021.

On May 26, 2021, the Assam cupboard had additionally determined to rent helicopters and chartered plane for the governor, chief minister, ministers and senior authorities officers however famous that they might be strictly for official visits.

What can be noteworthy is that as per the RTI replies, between May 10, 2021 until the time when the knowledge was furnished in September 2023, the state exchequer bore a staggering Rs 45,62,05,755 to meet the availability of helicopters and chartered flights to ferry high state dignitaries. The most variety of flights have been undertaken by CM Sarma. 

For occasion, between May 20, 2021 and July 18, 2021, all such flights price the Assam authorities Rs 4,46,09836, of which Rs 3,30,03834 was solely for Sarma’s journeys. Since the knowledge offered by his authorities is partial, it’s not attainable to compute the full expenditure on his chartered flights. However, what might be mentioned from the knowledge offered is that Sarma used such chartered flights for 240 days, over the course of two years. He took most of these flights to journey from Guwahati to Delhi. 

Also, the payments supplied with the RTI replies present that chartered flights or helicopters employed from a personal participant on the Guwahati-Delhi route had price the state authorities between Rs 2,25,000 and Rs. 4,15,000 per hour, relying on the plane it picked.

For occasion, if the state authorities employed a flight from Guwahati to Delhi on the charge of Rs 4,15,000 per hour between September 20 and 21, 2021, the invoice would come to Rs 33,10,606, together with 18% GST and ground-handling, watch extension, crew and belt prices.

One such invoice of a chartered flight inside Assam, on the Guwahati-to-Haflong circuit, confirmed price Rs 24,23,750, together with 18% GST and different associated prices. 

Costs to debt-ridden Assam

The Assam authorities’s RTI reply has proven that it had spent crores to meet the chartered flight necessities for high leaders in Assam, together with chief minister Sarma’s unofficial engagements, like political campaigning, occasion conferences and different social obligations, like attending wedding ceremony events. Meanwhile, official knowledge highlights the state’s precarious monetary situation. 

As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) knowledge uploaded on-line in December, until the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress authorities held workplace, the Assam authorities had an impressive mortgage of Rs 41,963 crores. The quantity has ballooned within the final eight years of BJP rule within the north-eastern state. As of the monetary yr 2022-23, the state’s monetary liabilities stood at virtually 3 times that – at a whopping Rs 1,26,281.4 crores.  

At this charge, by the top of 2024, the full excellent monetary liabilities of Assam are anticipated to rise  further to Rs 150,900 crores.