The helipad at the Raiganj Stadium turned out to be the centre of political tension in the town on Monday, a day ahead of the visit of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
On Tuesday, Rahul is scheduled to address a public meeting — his first rally in Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections — at the same venue. He is scheduled to arrive by helicopter, which was to land on a helipad adjacent to the stage in the stadium.
However, the Trinamool Congress engaged labourers to clear the temporary helipad that was built earlier for chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s public meeting. Soon, Congress leaders and workers arrived.
The Congress alleged that Trinamool was deliberately dismantling the helipad to disrupt Rahul’s rally. The party also lodged complaints with police and the administration.
“Trinamool deliberately ordered the dismantling of the helipad, 10 days after the chief minister’s rally, to sabotage Rahul Gandhi’s meeting. They do not allow free and fair democratic elections and are unwilling to let parties in the Opposition campaign. We expected basic political courtesy from them,” said PCC leader and former MP Deepa
Das Munshi.
Tushar Guha, a North Dinajpur district Congress leader, said the party had announced on April 11 that Rahul would hold a rally at the same venue and secured permissions from the administration.
“We had taken all the required permissions from the administration and were busy with preparations. Around 8am today, we received information that the helipad was being dismantled. When I reached the spot, the workers told us that they had been instructed by Trinamool to clear the helipad,” said Guha.
Trinamool, however, rejected the allegation.
“The temporary helipad was constructed for the chief minister’s rally that was held on April 3 at the expense of our candidate, Krishna Kalyani. The cost has been included in his election expenditure. It is our responsibility to restore that portion of the ground to its original condition for sporting activities. That is why the demolition began,” said Arindam Sarkar, a district vice-president of Trinamool.
“It is not our responsibility to track when leaders of other parties plan rallies at the stadium. The Congress should have informed us as a courtesy if they intended to use a structure built at our expense. Once we were informed, we stopped the work, showing courtesy from our side,” he added.
Later, the administration held a meeting with both parties.
“The dismantled portion of the helipad has been restored. It has also been decided that the Congress candidate will bear the cost of repairing and using the helipad for the rally,” said an official.