Indore: Many local dailies in Madhya Pradesh carried an advertisement from five Congressmen on Tuesday that intrigued as well as puzzled readers. The party workers were offering to sell their houses and shops to collect money to buy a modern plane for Rahul Gandhi.

The ad mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in accordance with his security protocol, gets to travel in state of the art aircrafts and Air Force choppers, so the government must also provide a modern aircraft for the Congress president.

“Rahul Gandhi is an honest leader and his safety is our collective duty,” said the Congressmen in the ad, adding the party men should buy him an aircraft and praying for his safety and long life.

“Gandhi family has a history of selfless sacrifices that are exemplary in Indian politics,” Ashok Jaiswal, one of the five men, told News18 over phone.

Addressing PM Modi, Jaiswal said a strong opposition was required for a healthy democracy but the Centre was ignoring safety of Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

The advertisement was published just days after a DGCA report found that Gandhi’s mid-air scare while travelling to Hubli on a chartered flight before the Karnataka election was caused due to a snag in the autopilot function. The report blamed panic caused to passengers on the delay by pilots in correcting course.

Local dailies in Madhya Pradesh carried the advertisement from five Congressmen.

“It was evident when the plane in which Gandhi was travelling had a close shave. This concerned us all and we decided to do something for ensuring his safety. If the government won’t listen, we all congressmen, if come together, could buy a plane for Rahul Gandhi in a blink of an eye,” Jaiswal said.

He also claimed the Congressmen would write a letter to PM Modi, urging him to offer a modern plane to the Congress president keeping his safety into consideration.