Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s Almora rally was cancelled on Thursday owing to bad weather conditions in the Kumaon region. After arriving at Pantnagar Airport, Rahul was forced to return to Delhi as weather conditions prevented his helicopter from completing the flight to Almora.
Inclement weather in the high-altitude Kumaon region played spoilsport for the Uttarakhand Congress on Thursday. Rahul was forced to return to Delhi midway from Pantnagar Airport, leaving him unable to address a large public gathering at the Almora Ground, where state leaders had gathered by setting aside their factional feuds. Although days of intense preparation by the state Congress leadership went in vain, Rahul managed to address the gathering virtually. During his address, he also spoke to the parents of the deceased 19-year-old girl, Ankita Bhandari, who was killed by a resort owner and his two accomplices. The main accused is the son of a former RSS leader from Haridwar.
Rahul’s two-day visit to Uttarakhand was cancelled owing to bad weather conditions and a similar forecast by the Meteorological department for the next 2-3 days. He later returned to Delhi from Pantnagar.
The former Congress president’s Uttarakhand itinerary included addressing a massive public rally in Almora on Thursday morning, followed by an interaction with ex-servicemen in Pauri. After his Pauri meeting, Rahul Gandhi was to fly to Mussoorie for a night’s stay on June 4. On Friday, Rahul had a daylong programme featuring a series of interactive sessions and meetings with Congress leaders, PCC office bearers, party workers, district and block presidents, and leaders of other frontal organisations from across the state. More than one thousand passes had been issued by the state Congress leadership for these meetings with Rahul Gandhi. However, all meetings and programmes of the party were cancelled after Rahul returned to Delhi from Pantnagar Airport.
Expressing his regret for not being able to address the party gathering at Almora, Rahul said, “We came to Uttarakhand this morning to meet people. We took a helicopter from Pantnagar to Almora, but the pilot said it was difficult to reach Almora due to inclement weather. We had to return midway to Pantnagar. I wanted to meet you and talk about the political and economic situation in Uttarakhand. It is disappointing that we had to turn back, but we will reschedule this programme as soon as possible.”
Following his statement, Rahul addressed the people and party workers gathered at the Almora Ground virtually.