Instead, they had to make do with State Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, who surprisingly, turned up on time in a Chetak helicopter at the specially prepared helipad at the St Augustine's High School football ground.

Munde was received at the makeshift helipad by Minister of State for Railways Ram Naik, Thane police superintendent Ashok Kamte, Jawahar Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhalerao and Vasai Dy SP Shengaonkar.

Covering up well for the Home Minister's absence, Munde drew applause with a witty start to his address at the jam-packed Janaki theatre hall saying: "I know this hall is full because all of you have come to see Advani, but unfortunately you will have to seeonly me today. I am lucky ." About Advani's absence, he said the latter had to cancel his visit today because of the tumult in the party's set up in New Delhi yesterday, when Sahib Singh Verma quit as Chief Minister. Apprised of the perennial power problems of the taluka, he promised that he would do his best and also assured that the State would do all it could to rehabilitate the flood-hit farmers of Vasai taluka and its surrounding villages.

Minister of State for Railways Ram Naik, who presided over the function, said in his address that though the State had done a lot for victims of floods in Thane district, it was not enough. The floods had destroyed fields, houses, schools and foodgrains and the loss was colossal, he said.

He sought more aid from the State. Meanwhile, lauding the bank's performance he said, the bank which had excelled in its performance would get `Scheduled Bank' status the day its deposits touch Rs 1 crore.

At the end of the function as Munde, Ram Naik, State HousingDevelopment Minister Raj Purohit and Mumbai BJP unit president Kirit Somaiya prepared to leave the hall, two Catholic priests - Fr Nazareth Gabru, Chancellor of the newly-formed Vasai Diocese and Fr Alliane D'Costa - presented the Dy Chief Minister with a memorandum expressing the feelings of the people of the taluka in the wake of the recent incidents of persecution of members of the community and also the two incidents of rape of nuns. Munde gracefully accepted the memorandum, offering his sympathies.