New Delhi: Hours after the Congress took on PM Modi for shooting a promotional film when the news of the Pulwama terror attack broke, government sources refuted the charge and said that there was a 25-minute delay in informing him because of inclement weather and poor connectivity.
They said PM Modi tried returning to Delhi soon afterwards, but could make it only by late that night due to weather conditions.
According to these sources cited by NDTV, the Prime Minister reached Dehradun at 7 am but remained stuck for four hours due to the worsening weather. Also, he was supposed to address a public rally at Rudrapur that afternoon which he cancelled after news of the terror attack first began to emerge.
He constantly sought input from NSA Ajit Doval, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik before heading back to the Ramnagar guest house. Once there, he continued his telephonic conversation with the trio.
PM Modi did not have anything to eat through it all, sources told NDTV, adding that he was angry at the delay in being told about the attack. He then travelled from Ramnagar to Bareilly through potholed roads because the chopper wouldn’t take off due to inhospitable conditions. He reached Delhi only late that night.
