Ahmedabad:

Amid the speculation about fielding IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla as a last minute choice of Congress for Rajyasabha seat in Gujarat on the last day of nomination today a top official of the Airport Authority of India today confirmed that a permission for landing of his chartered plane was in-fact sought.

‘As due to ongoing re-carpeting work of the runway at the SBVP international airport here, no flight operations were being done between 10 am to 7 pm, a special permission was was sought for landing of his aircraft but it was not allowed,’ the official said.

Notably, of the two official candidates of Congress, one Naran Rathwa, the former MoS for Railways could not file his papers till the last hour on the last day of nomination today owing to unavailability of some important no dues certificates. After that reports emerged that Congress was going to field Shukla in his place and that his chartered plain was ready for take off but could not owing to flight restrictions at Ahmedabad airport here.

Rathwa, filed papers in the last hour and Congress as a changed strategy fielded its leader P K Valera as independent supported by it for a sort of back-up arrangement in case of the rejection of the nomination of Rathwa on technical grounds.

Notably, a Lucknow bound flight from here which had to make an emergency landing on the airport owing to technical snag was allowed to take off during restricted hours as a special case.

DeshGujarat