Jair Bolsonaro flees, says election was ‘stolen’

New Delhi, January 2

The swearing in of Lula was expectedly rocky with the outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro fleeing to the US to avoid the conventional handing over of the Presidential sash.

Bolsonaro left for the US on an Air Force plane while he was technically the President. The flight monitoring website Flightaware said the aircraft landed in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday.

Before leaving, a teary eyed Bolsonaro addressed followers in a live broadcast on his social networks in which he said the four years of his government gave “the best of himself”.

After claiming that the election was “stolen”, Bolsonaro had kept a low profile while his supporters demanded that military should stop Lula from becoming President.