Bhola Pandey, who hijacked a plane for Indira Gandhi with a cricket ball, is no more. After this hijacking incident, he became famous all over the world and became close to Indira Gandhi. After this, Dr. Bholanath Pandey, who remained a special leader in Congress politics for three decades, died on Friday at his residence in Lucknow. Bhola Pandey, who was very close to the Gandhi family since the time of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was twice the MLA of Dwaba (now Bairia) as well as the National Secretary of Congress from 1980 to 1985 and 1989 to 1991. 71-year-old Bhola was ill for a long time. As soon as the news of his death came, a wave of mourning spread across Dwaba and Ballia. A large number of his well-wishers and party workers left for Lucknow.
Dr. Bhola Pandey, a resident of Munichhapra village of Bairia region, was born on 25 October 1973. After his initial education from Inter College Bairia and Dubey Chhapra, he graduated from BHU and obtained a PhD in Hindi. Bhola, who was associated with Congress from the beginning, became MLA for the first time in 1980 by defeating Manager Singh, a strong leader of Dwaba at that time. After this, he was elected MLA for the second time in 1989. He was the National General Secretary of All India Youth Congress from 1986 to 1990. In 1991, he was made the National Secretary of the Congress Party. He worked in the organization for a long time as the party in-charge of states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh.
The plane was hijacked using a cricket ball
There was a Janata Party government at the centre and Morarji Desai was the Prime Minister. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was arrested by the CBI on 19 December 1978. On receiving this information, 21-year-old Dr Bhola Pandey and his another friend Devendra Pandey hijacked a Boeing 737 plane on 20 December 1978. The interesting thing is that Bhola wrapped a cricket ball in a handkerchief and calling it a bomb, made the plane from Lucknow to Delhi land in Varanasi. When he was questioned, he demanded the immediate release of Indira Gandhi. This incident made Dr Bhola Pandey a famous face of the world in one stroke and the door for him opened for the Gandhi family forever. After the incident, Dr Bhola went to jail. When he came out, Congress gave him a ticket and he became an MLA from Dwaba for the first time.
My dead body will be carried wrapped in the Congress flag
In the current era of politics when leaders change their party and their faith in it in the blink of an eye, Dr. Bhola remained associated with Congress at all times. There were many occasions when he got offers from various parties. If he wanted, he could have gone there and become an MLA or MP but he did not do so. In the 2014 elections, there was a lot of talk about Dr. Bhola Pandey joining another party. Then media persons asked questions about this at his residence in Chandrashekhar Nagar, Ballia. Dr. Bhola Pandey replied that ‘only my dead body will be wrapped in the Congress flag.’