PTI
BONGAON, Nov 25: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP of “political sabotage” after her scheduled helicopter ride to Bongaon was abruptly cancelled, warning the party not to “play” with her as she “cannot be cornered”.
Banerjee, who was supposed to land in Bongaon in North 24 Parganas at 12:30 pm, said she was informed around 10 am that the hired helicopter “would not fly”, forcing her to travel by road. She reached the venue around 2 pm to address a massive public rally amid rising panic over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A senior bureaucrat, however, clarified that the helicopter ride was cancelled after officials discovered that the aircraft assigned for the trip was operating with an expired licence. The chief minister then travelled the 104 km from Kolkata by road.
“For the last seven-eight months, I haven’t travelled by helicopter. Today I had planned to come here and then go to Thakurnagar. Everything was booked in advance. But at 10 in the morning, I received a message that the helicopter wouldn’t go,” Banerjee said, alleging political motives behind the last-minute cancellation.
Turning the inconvenience into a campaign pitch, she said the road journey gave her the opportunity to connect with people more directly.
“Before elections begin, they have started creating hurdles. But it didn’t help them—it helped me. On the way, I met so many people. It turned into a great public outreach,” she said.
Escalating her attack on the BJP, the Trinamool Congress chief warned the party against attempts to intimidate her.
“Don’t try to play with me. You won’t be able to fight and defeat me politically,” she said, adding that she mostly travels by road and is “not dependent” on helicopters. “I cannot be cornered,” she declared.
Her remarks come amid reports that 35 deaths, some allegedly by suicide, have occurred in Bengal’s refugee belts, reportedly triggered by fear surrounding the SIR verification process.
Vowing to “fight till the end”, Banerjee accused the BJP and the Election Commission of creating an atmosphere of fear through the SIR exercise and warned that Bengal would resist any attempt to “snatch away” citizens’ rights.
