Bad weather forces PM to cancel Rudrapur trip

Inclement weather on Thursday forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel his rally at Rudrapur in Udhamsingh Nagar district of Uttarakhand, a top BJP leader said. State BJP President Ajay Bhatt said the Prime Minister's helicopter remained stranded at the Dhikala Range in the Jim Corbett National Park and could not fly to Rudrapur where Modi was to address a big rally.

"The Prime Minister addressed the Rudrapur gathering through telephone and expressed his regret for not reaching the venue due to inclement weather," Bhatt said. Earlier, the Prime Minister was held up at Jollygrant Airport in Dehradun for more than four hours due to rain. Modi, who landed at the airport at 7.15 a.m., could only fly to Kalagarh to visit the Corbett National Park around noon.

During his visit to Rudrapur, Modi was supposed to launch the State Integrated Cooperative Development Project and distribute loans to select beneficiaries of the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Farmers Welfare Scheme of the state government.