PM Modi's Chopper Grounded: Low Visibility Forces Virtual Rally in Bengal

After reaching the area, the chopper pilot found the situation not suitable for landing at the helipad because of the low visibility and decided to fly back to the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.

The Prime Minister's chopper had returned to Kolkata and landed at the airport. While state BJP leaders had hinted at the possibility that he might reach Taherpur by road and attend his twin programmes there, one administrative and the other political, the distance - over 100 kms - did not make it feasible, and PM Modi is scheduled to address the rally virtually from Kolkata.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, confirmed that the chopper could not land at Taherpur.

For the Prime Minister's two programmes, two separate platforms were raised.

From one dais, the Prime Minister was supposed to first inaugurate some Central government projects in West Bengal virtually. Thereafter, he was supposed to go to the second dais from where he was supposed to address a political rally.

Meanwhile, the ground on which the Prime Minister was supposed to address the political rally was already packed by BJP supporters hours before the scheduled arrival of the Prime Minister there.

The situation became such at a time that the security personnel had to close the entry gates with thousands of BJP supporters still waiting outside the rally ground. As the news of the failure of the Prime Minister's chopper to land at the helipad reached there, several BJP supporters expressed frustration.

At the Taherpur rally, the Prime Minister was supposed to kick off the BJP's sustained campaign to counter the Trinamool Congress on the contentious citizenship issue of the Matua community.

- IANS