The campaign for the first phase of Bihar elections 2025 is over. A total of 320 flights were conducted in air campaign, in which NDA with 256 flights was far ahead of the India alliance (64 flights). It is estimated that around ₹40 crore will be spent on this.
The election campaign for 121 assembly seats in the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections 2025 ended at 5 pm on Tuesday. In this phase, political parties made unprecedented use of the air route to reach voters. A total of 320 flights were flown during the campaign, including 260 helicopters and 60 chartered aircraft. These numbers show that political parties fought the election battle from the ground as well as the air, where the emphasis was on covering as many areas as possible in a short period of time.
NDA’s huge dominance in air campaign
If we look at the aerial data of the campaign, the dominance of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is clearly visible. NDA leaders flew a total of 256 flights, while opposition Indian Alliance leaders flew 64 times. This shows that the NDA was almost four times ahead of the India Alliance in campaign intensity and coverage. Of the 18 districts in the first phase, 16 were close to Patna, which made it convenient for the leaders to fly back repeatedly from the base camp. Due to Diwali, Chhath and bad weather, helicopters and chartered planes could not fly for five days, otherwise this number would have been even higher.
Giants fly
Top leaders of both the alliances participated in the aerial campaign. On behalf of NDA, Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP President JP Nadda, Union Minister Rajnath Singh, Dharmendra Pradhan, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary besides Chief Ministers of BJP ruled states flew. At the same time, on behalf of the India Alliance, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav, Priyanka Gandhi, former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, and former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and other leaders used helicopters.
Probable expenditure of ₹40 crore on publicity
This aerial campaign is not cheap, and political parties are likely to spend around Rs 40 crore on campaigning from helicopters throughout this election. Currently 18 helicopters are being used for the promotion, and a few more aircraft are expected to arrive in the future. Talking about the cost, a helicopter flight of three-four hours costs around Rs 10-11 lakh. In this, the political parties have to pay about Rs 2 to 2.5 lakh per hour rent, GST, and also make arrangements for the accommodation and food of the crew members.
Preparation for the second phase
With the campaigning for the first phase over, political parties have now focused their entire attention on the second phase. In the second phase, voting is to be held on November 11 in 122 assembly constituencies of 20 districts. The campaign for this phase will end on November 9. The second phase is expected to see a further increase in the number of election rallies and air travel as the alliance leaves no stone unturned to ensure its victory.