The stretch on which the chief minister’s spare car broke down. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, May 12: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee got a taste of Bengal’s roads when the front axle of his spare, bullet-proof Ambassador broke while going through a potholed stretch of the state highway in Malda last evening.

“It was a small matter, but our heads were bowed in shame,” district magistrate Chittaranjan Das said.

The incident occurred near Muchia village, 20km from Malda town, when the chief minister was travelling from an election rally in Habibpur to the National Thermal Power Corporation guesthouse in Farakka, Murshidabad.

Two bullet-proof Ambassadors had been brought from Calcutta for Bhattacharjee, who addressed rallies in Malda yesterday and Murshidabad today.

Additional Malda district magistrate Purnachandra Shit said the entire convoy screeched to a halt as the car broke down. Security personnel got off to sort out the problem but had to abandon the vehicle and proceed.

Shit said the district magistrate had asked the PWD to repair the road, which is being widened.

The project, started over a year ago, is still unfinished.

“I held two meetings on May 4 and 10 to discuss the road condition, but there was no result. I am writing to the PWD again,” the district magistrate said.

The road is being widened with funds from the the Asian Development Bank.

A PWD engineer said Rs 30 crore had been sanctioned for the widening of the road, but the “contractor is inexperienced for this kind of work”.