Chopper not allowed to land, Shivraj flies into rage

BJP vice president Shivraj Singh Chouhan Thursday claimed that the collector of Chhindwara, the home district of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, denied permission to land for a helicopter carrying him.

Chouhan, a former chief minister, visited the Election Commission's (EC) office here and submitted a complaint, demanding that the collector be transferred.

The Congress, on the other hand, accused him of threatening the collector.

Chouhan's chopper was not allowed to land in the district Wednesday as it was past 5 pm.

Later, addressing a campaign rally at Umreth in the district at night, a furious Chouhan said, "We had heard that in (West) Bengal (chief minister) Mamata Banerjee did not allow a helicopter to land, now comes Kamal Nath...listen you stooge ('pitthu') collector, our days will come soon, what will happen to you then?"
Speaking to reporters after submitting his complaint to the EC Thursday, Chouhan said, "The collector wanted that my public meeting and road show in Chhindwara get cancelled due to the delay. I could not meet the public...my programme became chaotic due to the conspiracy of the district election officer (the collector). What are they afraid of?"