A heavy downpour followed by a hailstorm prevented Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from attending his first election rally since January when he underwent a major cardiac surgery. Although he landed on time at the Mohanbari airport near Dibrugarh,the rough weather prevented the chopper that was to fly him to the Chowkidingi Field in Dibrugarh town,the venue of the Congress rally,from taking off. Thus,after having waited in the Mohanbari airport VIP lounge for more than two hours,the Prime Minister got back to the special aircraft on which he had arrived,and flew back to New Delhi. The helicopter pilot did not want to take a risk with the inclement weather,especially taking the Prime Minister on board. The weather was really bad, Pradyut Bordoloi,state Industry Minister and Congress party spokesman,told The Indian Express over the telephone from Dibrugarh. Bordoloi said the Prime Minister landed at Mohanbari airport,20 km from Dibrugarh town,exactly at 11.20 am and flew off for New Delhi at 2 pm after spending valuable time in the airport lounge. Singh,of course,used the time by discussing the law and order situation in his adopted home state with Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi,especially in the backdrop of Monday's terror attack in Guwahati which left nine people dead. He over-flew Guwahati en route to New Delhi. According to the original schedule,the Prime Minister was also supposed to address an election rally at Diphu. The meeting was called off in view of a bandh called by the outlawed Karbi Longri National Liberation Front.
