Kolkata, May 31 (IANS): The maximum use of helicopters for campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal was done by the Trinamool Congress, according to the records of the Election Commission of India.

Sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that helicopters were used for campaigning by the Trinamool leaders on 521 occasions.

The BJP, which is the principal opposition party in the state, used choppers for campaigning on 124 occasions.

While the Congress used helicopters only twice, the constituents of the Left Front didn't use choppers for campaigning.

Interestingly, there have been two instances when helicopters were used by Independent candidates for campaigning.

Sources in the CEO's office said that West Bengal tops all other states in terms of the number of campaign-related programmes, including election meetings and roadshows.

The CEO's office received as many as 1,19,276 applications for conducting campaign-related programmes, out of which 95,000 were approved.