Modi stopped by bad weather, addresses rally over phone

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday addressed a rally here by mobile phone after bad weather stopped him from reaching the venue.

Modi was to blow the poll bugle for the state at the meeting, named 'Shanknaad' - or the blowing of conch shells - to indicate just that.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, state BJP president Ajay Bhatt and party MPs Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah sat on the dais, as the sound system relayed the brief speech.

Modi arrived at Dehradun's Jolly Grant airport on schedule at about 7 am, and was to travel ahead by helicopter.

He waited there for over four hours for the weather to clear up for the Mi-17 helicopter to take off.

He left by helicopter for Kalagarh at 11.15 am, and then travelled to the Dhikala zone of the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

But he could not go beyond Dhikala as the weather turned bad in the afternoon once again, prompting him to address the meeting on phone.

The prime minister ...