Pantnagar: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had to postpone his scheduled visit to Uttarakhand’s Almora & Pauri and return to the Pantnagar airport midway after his helicopter encountered severe weather conditions.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha later addressed a public rally, titled ‘Parivartan ka Shankhnaad’, over a phone call facilitated by Congress general secretary and Uttarakhand in-charge Kumari Selja.
Addressing the Almora & Pauri gathering over phone, Gandhi said he had been keen to meet the people in person. “Today, I wanted to be with you, sit among you, listen to you and understand your joys, difficulties, hopes and concerns. Unfortunately, due to severe weather conditions, this could not be possible,” Gandhi said.
The Congress leader said he had reached Pantnagar in the morning and was to fly to Almora by helicopter. “But given the adverse weather, the pilot clearly refused to take off. We are all humble before nature, and there can be no compromise with the safety of fellow travellers,” he said.
“I promise you that I will return to Uttarakhand very soon. Then we will not meet in haste. We will sit together, talk at length, listen to your views and discuss the way forward for a better future for the state,” he said.
Gandhi’s June 4-5 itinerary included a public meeting in Almora, an interaction with ex-servicemen in Pauri, a visit to Kotdwar to meet Mohammad Deepak, and meetings with Congress leaders and office-bearers in Dehradun.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has accused that the Narendra Modi led BJP government has surrendered before the United States of America. He was addressing a conclave of the ex-servicemen at Pauri in a virtual mode. The Congress leader was forced to address the public rally in Almora and conclave of ex-servicemen in Pauri in a virtual manner due to the inclement weather conditions.
Addressing the ex-servicemen, Gandhi said that Prime Minister Modi handed over the energy security of the country to American president Donald Trump. He said that the deal inked with the USA clearly mentions that India will be able to purchase crude oil only from the countries approved by the USA. He claimed that after the deal, the farmers of the country are at peril as India has opened the Agriculture sector for the USA.
Gandhi added that the Indian government has also handed over medical and commercial data to the USA and has agreed that the country will procure goods worth Rs 9.5 lakh crores every year from the USA which will prove detrimental for the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector of the country.
