Helicopter denied permission to fly to Hoshiarpur due to PM Modi visit, claims Channi

|HT|

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday claimed that his helicopter was denied permission to fly to Hoshiarpur due to Prime Minister Modi's visit to the state.

"I was in Una at 11 am but suddenly the permission to fly to Hoshiarpur was denied due to PM Modi's movement. It was declared a no-fly zone. I was not able to attend Rahul Gandhi's rally in Hoshiarpur. I had permission to land, said Channi. Channi's statement comes on a day Prime Minister Modi is set to address a poll rally in Jalandhar, the first since the January security breach when his convoy was stuck on a flyover in Ferozepur for 15-20 minutes.

Union home minister Amit Shah had taken a swipe at Channi yesterday during a poll rally in Ludhiana, saying the one who couldn't provide security to the PM, how could he protect Punjab. Punjab goes to polls in a single phase election on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)