Patna: We’ve come a long way since the time politicians would spend pre-election days on the road, travelling from one constituency to the other in cavalcades. Their means of transportation now is much quicker.

Helicopters allow election candidates to cover a lot more ground in a much shorter time, so it’s no surprise that politicians of all stripes now use the aircraft on the campaign trail.

Whether it’s RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav addressing more than a dozen rallies every day or the star campaigners of the BJP, these helicopters allow our seasoned politicians to bounce from one constituency to another.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, LJP’s Chirag Paswan, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi all have their own rides, for election campaigning, covering kilometres of ground that just wouldn’t be possible on the road.

There was a time when the sight of a politician’s chopper would make the locals say ‘chidiya mein ja raha hai’. Now, it’s just part of the routine.

Assembly elections in Bihar are scheduled to be held between 28 October and 7 November in three phases.

ThePrint’s National Photo Editor clicks the pictures of the helicopters flying in the Bihar sky during the elections.

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