Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s trip to the UK had to be cut short by almost a day as her flight had to be rescheduled after a fire knocked out the power supply to of Heathrow airport.
The chief minister was initially scheduled to fly to London on Friday night. Later it was rescheduled to Saturday morning. She finally left on Saturday evening.
A fire at the Europe’s busiest airport stranded tens of thousands of passengers, causing travel turmoil worldwide.
“As you know we had a flight in the morning but it had to be cancelled. This has disrupted the entire schedule. The trip has become very hectic, including two days of travel,” Banerjee told the media at the NSCBI airport in Kolkata.
“There is no direct flight to London from Kolkata and that’s why this problem. We are trying our best to get a direct flight between London and Kolkata,” she added.
Banerjee is scheduled to deliver a lecture at the University of Oxford on March 27. The chief minister and her team are also scheduled to attend a series of programs organised by the Indian high commission on March 24, a business summit on March 25 and a government-to-government program on March 26.
Banerjee on Thursday set up a group of ministers and a task force to manage the government during her UK-visit, while Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress along with Subrata Bakshi, the party’s president, and others senior leaders have been asked to look into the party’s affairs during her absence.
The TMC supremo had also alleged that political opponents were playing a “dirty game” and attempts were being made to malign the state and humiliate the people of West Bengal during her visit.
Banerjee had earlier stated that she has received invitations from various countries including Poland, Australia and Canada during the Bengal Global Business Summit in Kolkata – the flagship investment summit of the ruling TMC-government – held in February this year. She added that she would consider visiting Japan in 2027.
West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose on Saturday said it was a matter of pride that the chief minister was visiting Oxford University to deliver a lecture.
“If anything good happens to Bengal, it makes us happy. Also, we are proud that the CM is going to Oxford,” Bose told reporters on the sidelines of a CII meet in Kolkata.
