An angry Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP of conspiring against her after a helicopter, scheduled to take her to the rally venue in Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district, was reportedly not allowed to fly. Sources said the chopper’s insurance had expired, resulting in its grounding.
After travelling to the rally venue on a car from Kolkata, a distance of over 100 km, the West Bengal chief minister told the waiting crowd: “A funny thing happened today. First, I apologise for being late… I avail the helicopter once every seven or eight months. I travel by car mostly. But our government has taken a helicopter (on rent). This morning, when I was about to leave my house, I was told that I cannot fly in the helicopter. I was supposed to leave by 11 am and reach here by 12.30 am. We were told the helicopter would not fly.”
“Elections are yet to begin, but the confrontation has started,” the TMC supremo said, as she warned the opposition BJP not to play games with her, as she could not be cornered.
“I repeatedly tell the BJP. Please don’t play games with me. When I play the game, you will have no clue. You will not be able to understand when I will play my game,” Mamata said.
Turning the inconvenience into a campaign pitch, Banerjee said the road journey allowed her to come into spontaneous contact with people. “Before elections begin, they have started creating hurdles. But it didn’t help them. In fact, it helped me. On the way, I met so many people. I made stops and met with people. It became a great public outreach. What better way to reach out to the people?” the chief minister said.
According to the sources in the Transport Department, the helicopter was leased from a private company and was meant to be maintained by the company.
“In case of malfunction or any other issue, the company, by contract, is supposed to have a replacement. We do not know why the insurance was not renewed in time. The company was responsible and had been show-cause notice,” said a senior state transport department official.