BETUL, MADHYA PRADESH: A special bus used by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for campaigning on Monday got stuck in a dried up river in the district for nearly an hour during a road show for the May 20 Ghodadongri bypoll.
The bus, which has an upper portion designed in a shape of a rath (chariot), is generally used by Mr Chouhan to campaign during election period. However, the vehicle got stuck in the sand while crossing the Morand river near Dhamanya village.
As the ‘chariot’ could not move further, Mr Chouhan had to disembark and continue with his roadshow in another vehicle. According to party sources, the Chief Minister expressed annoyance at BJP leaders over taking this route.
Local villagers, with the help of a tractor, managed to pull the bus out of sand in an hour’s time, eyewitnesses said. The chariot then joined Mr Chouhan at Fofalya village, where he again addressed a meeting from his special bus.
Chief Minister had started Monday’s road show from Bhoura around 9 AM and later proceeded to Bana Behda, Hadipani, Sonadehi, Kuppa, Kasmaarkhandi, Dandari, Barojpur villages.
Besides Mr Chouhan, Ministers Rampal Singh and Gauri Shankar Shejwar and former OSD to Chief Minister Arun Bhatt, among others were present in the chariot at the time of the incident, party sources added.
PTI