Mamata Banerjee Confronts BJP Over Helicopter Cancellation: "Don't Play With Me"

Bongaon:

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee delivered a stern warning to the BJP on Tuesday, accusing them of sabotaging her scheduled helicopter journey to Bongaon. She firmly stated that they should not "play" with her as she could not be intimidated or cornered.

Initially planned to arrive at Bongaon in North 24 Parganas by 12:30 pm, Banerjee revealed she received notification at 10 am that her pre-arranged helicopter "would not fly." This unexpected development forced her to make the journey by road instead.

Despite the travel complications, she managed to reach the venue around 2 pm to address a massive gathering amid growing public concerns over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

A senior government official explained that the helicopter journey was cancelled after authorities discovered the aircraft was operating with an expired license. The helicopter operator subsequently received a show-cause notice for this violation.

According to administrative officials, the helicopter, which the Chief Minister had not used for nearly six months, had completed its required trial flight just the day before.

"The license expiration should have been identified immediately. Permitting a trial flight without proper document verification is unacceptable. Unfortunately, the license issue wasn't flagged during the inspection and only came to light early Tuesday," the official stated.

Consequently, Banerjee traveled the approximately 104 km distance from Kolkata to Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district by road.

"I haven't traveled by helicopter for the past seven-eight months. Today I had arranged to come here and then proceed to Thakurnagar. Everything was booked well in advance. But at 10 in the morning, I was informed that the helicopter wouldn't be available!" she stated, suggesting "political reasons" were behind the cancellation.

Turning this inconvenience into a campaign opportunity, Banerjee noted that the road journey actually enabled spontaneous interactions with citizens along the route.

"Before elections even begin, they've started creating obstacles. But their tactics didn't work. In fact, it benefited me. I met numerous people during the journey. It became an excellent public outreach opportunity," Banerjee remarked.

The Trinamool Congress leader intensified her criticism, warning the BJP against attempts to intimidate her.

"Don't try to play with me. You won't succeed in defeating me politically," she asserted, noting that she primarily travels by road and is "not dependent" on helicopters.

"I cannot be cornered," she declared emphatically.

Her comments came against the backdrop of 35 reported deaths, some allegedly suicides, linked to fear and anxiety triggered by the SIR verification process in Bengal's refugee communities.

Banerjee pledged to "fight till the end," accusing both the BJP and Election Commission of creating an atmosphere of fear through the SIR process and warning that Bengal would resist any attempts to "snatch away" citizens' rights.