Siliguri, April 9: The state
administration told the BJP Bengal leadership “at the last moment” that
the field where Narendra Modi’s chopper was to land here tomorrow was
unsuitable because of the soft soil, said party state president Rahul
Sinha today.
Late tonight, the PWD was busy building another helipad on firmer land near the rally venue in Matigara, Siliguri.
A BJP state leader
later said the leadership had been informed about the development and
there was a chance that Modi, the party’s prime ministerial face, would
drive from Bagdogra airport to Matigara, a distance that can be covered
in 20 minutes. He, however, said that as of now, the party would stick
to its chopper plan.
The Bengal BJP accused the state administration of “deliberate non co-operation”.
The ground at
Matigara, Panchkelguri Math, is 15km from Bagdogra, where Modi would
board a 20-seater chopper to reach the venue. He is scheduled to land in
Bagdogra around 10am .
This morning, the
Siliguri police commissioner and PWD engineers went to inspect the rally
venue. They told BJP leaders there that a 20-tonne chopper could not
land on such soft ground — the area is paddy land — as the wheels of the
chopper might sink into the soil.
“At the last
moment, they told us that the ground doesn’t have enough load-bearing
capacity and that’s why they want Modiji to come via road from Bagdogra
airport,” said BJP state president Sinha.
This morning, when
a team of officers, including Jag Mohan, the commissioner of Siliguri
police, visited the venue and informed the state leaders present there
that they would have to tweak their plan, Sinha and Sidharth Nath Singh,
BJP’s national spokesperson and Bengal in-charge, protested and
requested the administration to construct another helipad at the venue.
PWD officers said it was not possible to construct one at such a short
notice.
“Mamata Banerjee is scared of Modiji and the administration is doing all this under her instructions,” Sinha said.
Jag Mohan said:
“The organisers told us that a 20-seater chopper will land at the
meeting venue. It weighs around 20 tonnes. Engineers of the state PWD
department objected to it, saying the ground is not firm enough to hold
the wheels and there are chances the wheels might sink into the earth.”
Santosh Tamang,
the assistant engineer of PWD (Siliguri construction division-II), gave
the same view. “The ground is paddy land where the makeshift helipad has
been built. The ground is soft and there is a risk that the wheels of
the bigger chopper might sink into the earth,” he said. “We are trying
to build a helipad on firm land nearby by tomorrow morning, if
possible.”
Rathindra Bose,
the Darjeeling district BJP president, said he had consulted the Delhi
leadership. “The administration is not co-operating with us. Today, they
raised objections on the chopper barely a few hours before the public
meeting. We have spoken to our leaders in Delhi and it has been decided
that Narendra Modi will reach the meeting venue by road from Bagdogra.
If a helipad is constructed by then, we will take a call tomorrow.”(TT)