Chitwan, November 16

Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal could not arrive in Chitwan from Kathmandu to attend a programme today due to flight delay.

Dahal, who was scheduled to arrive in Chitwan, waited at the Tribhuvan International Airport for an hour before returning home. Dahal, also the lawmaker from Chitwan Constituency-3, was scheduled to attend Counseling Meeting on Local Infrastructure Development Partnership organised by District Coordination Committee, Chitwan, at 10:00am. He was scheduled to return to Kathmandu at 3:15pm.

NCP (NCP) leaders, local representatives and journalists had waited at the airport to receive Dahal. Dahal’s daughter, Renu Dahal, who is the mayor of Bharatpur, said Dahal cancelled his Chitwan visit due to flight delay. “He returned after the plane did not take off even after he waited for more than an hour at the airport,” Renu added.

Buddha Air Bharatpur Manager Bhakta Bahadur Basnet, however, said the place could not take off due to air traffic issues. “Dahal returned before he was taken to the aircraft from the VIP lounge at the airport,” Basnet said. Planes of other airlines, however, had landed at Bharatpur airport. The Buddha Air plane, which was supposed to ferry Dahal, however, had landed at the Bharatpur airport at 12:15pm.