The helicopter carrying Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Education, was not allowed to land in the Noney district of Manipur on Saturday.
Mr. Singh had come to the district to attend an election meeting of Dipu Gangmei, who is contesting from the Noney constituency as the BJP candidate. It was to land at the Longmai ground. However, a large number of men and women, said to be supporters of Gaidon Kamei, Congress candidate of the assembly constituency, came out to the ground declaring that the helicopter could not land in the constituency.
One activist said the authorities had not given advance notice of the Minister’s visit. Some started burning logs and old tyres to prevent the helicopter from landing. The helicopter then turned back for reasons of security.
Reports say that there is tension among the B JP and Congress workers there.
Meanwhile, in a continuation of the ongoing pre-poll violence in the State, several shots were fired on Friday midnight at the house of Bangkabihari Sharma, a former pradhan of the gram panchayet of Heinou Khongnembi in Imphal west district. Family members recovered empty cartridges and a live round on Saturday morning.
A similar gun attack was made on his house on February 19. Police feel there could be a political angle to the incident, since Mr. Sharma is a close associate of a candidate for the upcoming elections.
