President Pratibha Patil’s visit to Bhaderwah in the Jammu region was called off on Sunday due to inclement weather. Patil was to inaugurate Jammu University’s Bhaderwah campus. Speaking at a function organised for the occasion, chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “People here are disappointed as they wanted to see the President, the first on to ever come here. However, due to bad weather, she could not fly down to inaugurate Jammu University’s Bhaderwah campus.”Azad, who called off the inauguration, said the President would be requested to come to Bhaderwah and inaugurate the campus during the remaining part of her five-day visit to this border state. A large number of people, including schoolchildren and women, had thronged the venue, hoping to listen to the President. “It was me who had invited her to the state for inaugurating the Bhaderwah campus. Now, while she will be attending all other functions during her visit to the state, she could not make it to the function for which she had in fact agreed to visit the state,” Azad said. “I knew her when we both were elected MPs, representing neighbouring constituencies from Maharashtra. A fortnight ago, I invited her to visit Bhaderwah so as to also show her the remote part of Jammu and Kashmir to which I belong,” he added. “Today morning, as it was raining and helicopter could not take off from there, I requested her to travel to Srinagar by road. She readily agreed to my request. However, even as her helicopter took off from Srinagar, it could not cross Pir Panjal because of the inclement weather conditions,” the chief minister said.
