Union home minister Amit Shah reached Kolkata early Saturday after his flight was delayed by nearly two hours due to a thunderstorm that hit the city around midnight.
According to airport sources, the special aircraft carrying him from Delhi was scheduled to land at 11:46 pm on Friday, reported PTI.
The plane, however, had to hover over the airspace of Nadia and North 24 Parganas districts as a ‘nor’wester’ brought lightning and heavy rain. The aircraft eventually landed at 1:46 am.
Shah left the airport at 2 am in a convoy for a hotel in the city, where he was received by senior BJP leaders. A senior party leader said Shah had departed from Delhi at 10:46 pm.
The delay comes a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee faced similar conditions. On March 26, her flight from Andal was unable to land in Kolkata for about an hour due to a thunderstorm.
Shah is scheduled to release a ‘charge sheet’ against the Trinamool Congress government at a hotel in New Town on Saturday afternoon.
The document contains the Bharatiya Janata Party’s allegations against the ruling party ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal.
Shah has been visiting the state frequently over the past two months, holding meetings, addressing rallies and taking part in outreach programmes, including the ‘Poriborton Yatra’, as part of the party’s election campaign.