Mamata informed at 10 am of grounded helicopter due to expired licence/insurance, travels 104 km by road to Bongaon rally, alleges BJP "sabotage" to derail Matua outreach.
"Don't play with me, you can't defeat me politically," vows to "shake the nation" if targeted, turns delay into "public outreach" connecting with crowds en route.
Links incident to ECI-BJP "conspiracy" amid voter deletion fears, highlights BLO suicides and rushed timelines, promises protection for communities like Matuas ahead of 2026 polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday transformed a last-minute travel snag into a blistering indictment of the BJP, alleging "political sabotage" behind the abrupt cancellation of her helicopter ride to Bongaon, even as officials attributed it to routine lapses in the aircraft's licensing and insurance.
Addressing a massive anti-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) rally in the Matua-dominated North 24 Parganas district, 104 km from Kolkata, Banerjee warned the opposition not to "play games" with her, asserting, "You won't be able to defeat me politically," and promising to "shake the whole country" if targeted.
The Trinamool Congress supremo, scheduled to chopper in at 12:30 pm for the event protesting the ECI's voter roll revision, was informed at 10 am that the hired aircraft "would not fly," forcing a two-hour road journey that she spun into an "impromptu public outreach." "For the last seven-eight months, I haven't used a helicopter. Everything was booked in advance, but suddenly the message came, political reasons behind it," she fumed, apologizing for the delay while claiming the mishap allowed her to connect directly with roadside crowds, turning adversity into electoral fuel.
A senior bureaucrat clarified the grounding stemmed from expired documents, prompting an internal inquiry into the oversight, but Banerjee linked it to broader BJP machinations against her Matua outreach amid SIR fears.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya scoffed at the claims as "laughable," insisting procedural safety trumped conspiracy theories, while the party accused Banerjee of shielding illegals. As she proceeded to Thakurnagar post-rally, the episode underscored the escalating pre-poll skirmishes, with Banerjee's defiant roadshow signaling no retreat in Bengal's brewing political storm.
