Kolkata: A scheduled election meeting of Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday has been cancelled in northern West Bengal after the Darjeeling district administration denied permission to let his chopper land at the Police Ground in Siliguri, a Congress leader said.
State Congress working President and the party’s candidate for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency, Sankar Malakar, said Gandhi was slated to address the meeting at Dagapur in Siliguri on Sunday.
Malakar also alleged that two other meetings in support of the Congress President, which were scheduled to be addressed by former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Bollywood actress Nagma, also had to be cancelled as the district authorities gave permission very late or for a very short time.
Narrating the sequence of events, Malakar said the concerned All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary had told him that the meeting could take place either on April 14 or April 16, following which Gandhi would fly off to Jangipur in Murshidabad district to address another rally.
“On April 7 we applied for the helipad and ground permission through the Election Commission’s single window Subidha. The district authorities sat on the application for four days and just 48 hours back said that permission was being denied.
“Now we have no alternative but to cancel the rally,” Sankar Malakar, added. (IANS)
