Mimi's jeep gets stuck at level-crossing near Bidyadharpur stn

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress candidate Mimi Chakraborty's hoodless jeep which she was using for campaigning, accidentally got stuck in the railway level-crossing adjacent to Bidyadharpur railway station in South 24-Parganas on Tuesday morning.

The actor-turned-politician is contesting for the Jadavpur seat, which goes to polls during the last phase of the seven phase Lok Sabha elections on May 19.

Mimi had started campaigning from 8 am in the Sonarpur South Assembly constituency, along with local MLA Jiban Mukhopadhyay and TMC district president of South 24-Parganas Subhasish Chakraborty.

The vehicle, after travelling through various areas under the Assembly constituency, stepped on the rail track at the level-crossing of Bidyadharpur station and accidentally got stuck in a gap between the tracks.

It may be mentioned that there is no gate to control the movement of vehicles at the level-crossing. Mimi, along with the other TMC leaders, had to come down from the jeep just before the crossing point and crossed over to the other side on foot. As the jeep got stuck, the Matribhoomi local which was approaching the station, came to a halt. Trains travel at a low speed in the stretch as the crossing has no gate to avert chances of accident. However, there still have been some deaths at the level-crossing. Considering this, local people said that TMC's star candidate had a lucky escape.

The party workers who had accompanied Mimi in her campaign, soon managed to lift the vehicle after some time and her campaign resumed. However, the local train was delayed for some time.

Mimi has been pitted against CPI(M)'s Bikash Bhattacharjee and BJP's Anupam Hazra in the battle for the Jadavpur seat.

It may be mentioned that the residents in the area have been vocal in their demand for a rail gate for the level-crossing, but things have not seen any progress in that regard.