Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter failed to land at the Taherpur helipad in West Bengal’s Nadia district on Saturday due to low visibility caused by dense fog, officials said.
The chopper hovered over the helipad for a brief period before making a U-turn and returning to Kolkata’s NSC Bose International Airport.
Latest updates from the airport suggested that preparations were underway to convert the airport’s VIP lounge into a space from where the Prime Minister could address the waiting crowd in virtual mode, since reaching the rally venue in Nadia district by road could cause major delays and upset his day’s itinerary, the official said.
Officials said it was not immediately clear whether Modi would attempt to reach the venue by road or wait for visibility to improve and make another aerial attempt to land at Taherpur.
Modi had arrived in Kolkata around 10.40 am and boarded a helicopter for Nadia, where he is scheduled to inaugurate national highway projects and later address a BJP rally titled Parivartan Sankalpa Sabha.
The Prime Minister’s visit comes amid heightened political tensions in the state over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
This is his first visit to West Bengal since the publication of the draft SIR rolls and his third visit to the state in the past five months.
According to officials, Modi is expected to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for two national highway projects worth around Rs 3,200 crore.
These include the inauguration of the 66.7-km four-laning of the Barajaguli–Krishnanagar section of NH-34 in Nadia district and the foundation stone laying for the 17.6-km four-laning of the Barasat–Barajaguli section in North 24 Parganas.
The projects are expected to improve connectivity between Kolkata and Siliguri and boost trade, tourism and economic activity across the state.
The rally venue at Taherpur, located in the Ranaghat area, is seen as politically significant due to its proximity to regions with a substantial Matua population.
The SIR exercise has triggered protests by the ruling Trinamool Congress, which has alleged that the revision process could lead to the exclusion of genuine voters.