The man who had hijacked an Indian airlines Lucknow-Delhi-Kolkata flight to protest against Morarji Desai government’s “vindictiveness” against Indira Gandhi died in Luckow last week professing to be a life-long Congressman.
Bhola Nath Pandey breathed last on Friday, August 23, 2024 aged, 71. Priyanka Gandhi condoled his death on twitter recalling his services and contribution to the grand old party.
On December 20, 1978, two young men, Bhola Nath Pandey and Devendra Pandey, had reportedly hijacked the Lucknow- Delhi-Kolkata Indian Airlines Flight 410. The Boeing 737 had 126 passengers on board, among them two former ministers of Indira Gandhi’s cabinet, Ashoke Sen and Dharam Bir Sinha. Barely 15 minutes before the plane was to touch down at Delhi, the hijackers had got up and moved towards the cockpit. Captain M.N. Battiwala was forced to abort landing in Delhi and head for Varanasi.
The Pandeys were not related but their hijacking bid was driven by their mutual admiration for Indira. They spoke about the “vindictiveness” of the Janata Party-led government and demanded the former Prime Minister’s immediate and unconditional release from jail. Both said they were Youth Congress members, a claim the then Uttar Pradesh Congress unit chief Mohsina Kidwai had denied vehemently.
December 20, 1978 was an important and difficult day for Indira and the Congress as the Lok Sabha had expelled the former Prime Minister from house membership on grounds of having repeatedly committed breach of privilege and contempt of the House. The decision to jail Indira had come at the end of a 15-hour tumultuous debate spread over several sittings since the December 8, 1978 winter session of parliament. The motion to expel Indira was carried by 279 votes in favour and 138 against while thirty-seven members abstained. Indira’s jail term was effective till the prorogation of the session. This was the first instance of a member of Parliament being sentenced to jail by the house.
Soon after her expulsion and dramatic exit from Parliament, Indira was arrested and taken to Tihar Jail where she was put in a barracks of her own – in the same cell complex that George Fernandes had occupied during the Emergency. Sonia used to bring Indira’s three meals a day from home.
The hijack drama had ended by the same evening after the aircraft landed at Varanasi, where the father of one of the hijackers spoke to his son over the wireless. The father’s voice reportedly shattered the bubble of heroism. The two men, who were not carrying any firearms or explosives, emerged from the aircraft shouting pro-Indira slogans and surrendered to the police.
While the hijack drama was still going on, a senior government official informed UPCC chief Mohsina Kidwai that the two hijackers had told the authorities they would release the plane only if she asked them to. Mohsina told the official she didn’t know the hijackers.
Since her name had come up, some legal luminaries advised her to apply for anticipatory bail. Mohsina would later write in her autobiography, “My Life in Indian Politics [HCI] that she did not have a law degree, but common sense came to her rescue. She had told her lawyers that an anticipatory bail plea might be seen as an admission of guilt and association with the hijackers. She remained firm in her decision. It saved her from endless rounds of court visits.
Bhola Pandey remained fiercely loyal to the Congress. When Indira returned to power in 1980, she gave him a party ticket to contest from the Ballia assembly seat which he won. In fact, Pandey was elected to the UP assembly again in 1989. Thrice he was given a Lok Sabha ticket by the Congress from Salempur but success eluded him. He also bagged the post of AICC secretary. Pandey was known for his aggressive, bold and uncompromising instances.
