Mamata's helicopter makes emergency landing near Siliguri
Siliguri (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's helicopter made an emergency landing at the Sevoke air base near Siliguri on Tuesday afternoon due to bad weather, officials said.
Banerjee was on the way to the Bagdogra airport after addressing an election rally in Jalpaiguri when her helicopter ran into bad weather while flying over the Baikunthapur forest, they said.
"It was raining very heavily here, and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing," an official told PTI.
After the incident, it was decided that Banerjee will travel by road to the Bagdogra airport, and then fly back to Kolkata, he said.
The chief minister was touring parts of northern West Bengal to campaign for the panchayat elections, the polling for which will be held on July 8.
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Rahul attends district development meeting, inaugurates project in Raebareli
Raebareli (UP) (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attended a meeting of the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA), inaugurated a beautification project and laid the foundation stone for the construction of roads in his parliamentary constituency here in Uttar Pradesh.
On the way to Raebareli, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha paid obeisance at a Hanuman temple at Churwa and met party workers.
Soon after his arrival here, Gandhi inaugurated a beautification project undertaken by the municipal corporation in Raebareli at the Degree College intersection.
Subsequently, the Congress leader later laid the foundation stone for road-construction projects under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and then attended the DISHA meeting.
The meeting focused on various public welfare issues, including schemes such as MGNREGA, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and others, officials said.
Gandhi presided over the meeting with administrative officials.
A blueprint for the development of the district was prepared at the meeting and central schemes were reviewed.
This was Gandhi's first meeting with local officials since becoming an MP.
According to the Union Ministry for Rural Development, DISHAs were formed to ensure better coordination among members of Parliament, state legislatures and local governments.
Gandhi left for Lucknow after the meeting.
Later, Uttar Pradesh minister Dinesh Pratap Singh showed a poster to reporters. In the poster, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader took potshots at Gandhi for spending less time in his constituency.
"It has been more than six months, the MP (Gandhi) has not spent a night in his constituency," he said.
"In the last six months, (Gandhi spent) only five hours. Then in five years, it will be 50 hours. It means in five years, only two days?" the poster, titled "Raebareli ke Rahulji", said, requesting the Congress leader to spend a night in his constituency.
