Congress Leader Claims Jitu Patwari Will Fly MP’s New ₹250-Crore Jet

Political tensions have intensified in Madhya Pradesh over the new jet aircraft purchased at a cost of around ₹250 crore. The Bombardier Challenger 3500, which flew from Canada and reached the State Hangar in Bhopal, has become the centre of a political confrontation between the Congress and the BJP government.

Congress has begun targeting the government over the aircraft even before its operations have started. Mukesh Nayak, president of the Congress media department in Madhya Pradesh, has now made a political remark linking the new jet to the next battle for power in the state.

Nayak said that the BJP’s Chief Ministers could fly in the new jet for the next two years. He added that in 2028, a Congress government would be formed and Jitu Patwari would become the Chief Minister. According to Nayak, Patwari would then travel in the same aircraft.

“Let the BJP Chief Minister fly in the new jet for two years. In 2028, the Congress government will be formed and Chief Minister Jitu Patwari will fly in this aircraft,” Nayak said in substance while taking a dig at the BJP government. His statement has opened a fresh political debate in the state and has connected the discussion around the aircraft with the next Assembly election.

The Congress attack is not limited to the cost of the aircraft or the government’s expenditure. The statements by the party’s leaders also openly reflect its claim that it will return to power in the next Assembly election.

Congress state president Jitu Patwari has already claimed that the party will win the next Assembly election with 200 seats. Mukesh Nayak’s statement has given this claim a sharper political tone by presenting Patwari as the future Chief Minister who would use the same jet.

However, the Congress’s return to power and Jitu Patwari becoming Chief Minister are, at present, political claims made by party leaders. They are not a confirmed result.

The Madhya Pradesh government has purchased the state-of-the-art Bombardier Challenger 3500 jet. The aircraft has arrived in Bhopal, but the process of registration, technical inspection and the necessary approvals from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, is reportedly still pending before flight operations can begin.

The price of the aircraft and the government expenditure involved have become major points of attack for the Congress. The Opposition has raised these questions at a time when political statements over government priorities and spending have intensified in Madhya Pradesh.

Mukesh Nayak also targeted Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. He alleged that Scindia was responsible for the situation in which the Congress currently finds itself. Nayak further said that the Congress would take revenge if it formed the government.

The remark is being viewed against the political background of 2020, when Jyotiraditya Scindia left the Congress and joined the BJP, after which the Kamal Nath government fell. Since that political development, the confrontation between the Congress and Scindia has remained a subject of discussion in Madhya Pradesh politics.

The new jet, which cost around ₹250 crore, has therefore become a political issue even before it begins government use. For the BJP government, the aircraft is a facility for modern air transport. For the Congress, it has become an opportunity to question the government’s spending and to bring its claims for the 2028 election back into the political debate.

The aircraft is currently at the State Hangar in Bhopal. The political fight surrounding it began before its flights could start, and the statements from the Congress have added a new dimension to the debate between the BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh.