In the first media interaction and press conference as Congress president, Rahul Gandhi called Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s seaplane ride on Tuesday a distraction aimed at circumventing real issues faced by the people of Gujarat.

The Prime Minister had on Monday declared during a public rally at Ahmedabad that he will be taking a ride from the Sabarmati River in Ahmedabad in a seaplane to travel to Dharoi Dam from where he will pay a visit to Amabaji Temple.

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Tomorrow, on this Sabarmati river at 9:30 AM a plane will land. I will be on that sea plane and will go to Dharoi dam and them offer prayers at Ambaji: PM @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/S2yZvNFM61

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— BJP (@BJP4India) December 11, 2017

Modi’s speech was laced with development and what he has done for Gujarat. He said the first ever seaplane ride was not possible without the development of the state over the BJP’s 22-year-long rule.

The Congress President, however, was not much impressed and questioned the BJP on what the party has done in the 22-year rule in Gujarat. He termed the seaplane ride as more to do with ‘political skirting of real issues.’

Hardik Patel, the leader of PAAS, also slammed the seaplane ride, saying: “Seaplanes have been there in other countries for a long time. Today it has come to Gujarat, I am very happy about it. But it has come just two days before the election day is even better. But if the farmers are able to dispense pesticides from the plane, please see if this also can be made possible.”

sea plane दूसरे देशों में बहुत समय से हैं।आज हमारे गुजरात में आया हैं काफ़ी ख़ुश हूँ।लेकिन चुनाव के अगले दिन ही आया वो बढ़िया बात हैं।किसान किट नाशक दवाई भी Plane से डाल सके एसा कुछ कीजिए

— Hardik Patel (@HardikPatel_) December 12, 2017

To counter the negative views of the opponents the Prime Minister later on Tuesday tweeted, “Keeping in mind immense potential of developing tourism in India, seaplane kind of experiments can become a major tourist attraction. Seaplane can also be useful in emergency medical services.”

भारत में पर्यटन के विकास की असीम संभावनाओं को ध्यान में रखकर सी-प्लेन जैसा प्रयोग पर्यटकों के आकर्षण का केंद्र बन सकता है। आपातकालीन चिकित्सा सेवाओं में भी सी-प्लेन उपयोगी हो सकता है। pic.twitter.com/3dK3S0kNcu

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 12, 2017