President cancels visit to Kurukshetra

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, December 6

President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday cancelled his scheduled visit to Kurukshetra for the inauguration of the International Gita Mahotsav 2016 in the wake of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's demise last night.

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"The President has decided not to come for the inauguration of the International Gita Mahotsav 2016 in view of the demise of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa," said Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Mukherjee was scheduled to inaugurate the festival at Brahma Sarovar and the international seminar on Gita at Shri MadBhagwat Geeta Auditorium at Kurukshetra University here.

Earlier in the day, an Indian Air Force plane carrying the President to Chennai for the funeral returned mid-way due to a technical snag. He took off in the same aircraft after about an hour once the snag was fixed.

The aircraft had to return to Delhi 30 minutes into the flight, as a problem was detected with one of the filters.