Jagatsinghpur: Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s attempt to land in Jagatsinghpur on a helicopter could not succeed Tuesday as the pilot could not locate the helipad.
Reports said that Pradhan was scheduled to take off on his copter and land in Jagatsinghpur to attend a massive bike rally supporting the BJP’s candidate in Jagatsinghpur Assembly constituency, Satyabrata Mahapatra.
But he had to return as the pilot could not locate the helipad. After hovering around for a few minutes the copter turned back, reports said.
This affected the BJP roadshow. Many senior leaders of the BJP and party workers had assembled in huge numbers to join the rally. Their enthusiasm withered as Pradhan failed to appear. But as party workers had gathered they decided to go on with the roadshow without Pradhan. Led by candidate Satyabrata himself, BJP workers took out a massive bike rally through the town, requesting people to vote for the party.
“Dharmendra Pradhan was expected to land in Jagatsinghpur at 12:40 pm. The party was planning to hold the bike rally from Nuapole to Jagatsinghpur bus stand. But there was some problem in locating the helipad,” a BJP activist said.
The visit of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also affected the BJP’s rally as many people wanted to get a glimpse of the CM.