Veteran Bollywood actress Hema Malini Sunday kept anxious Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters waiting in the Sikkim capital where she was to address an election meeting.

The BJP blamed the central government for the flop show, as a party leader said Hema Malini was denied permission to fly in a helicopter from Darjeeling to Gangtok.

However, Hema Malini later addressed the crowd over the phone after the anxious supporters had been waiting for over five hours in the sun.

"I desperately wanted to be with you today as I had a lot to share. My inability to come this time on behalf of the BJP, however, shall motivate me to come there sooner.

"I did not get permission to fly there and I know you shall understand. I urge you to vote for the BJP which shall put an end to such malpractices in the centre, " she said in her short message that was aired through BJP state incharge Hirendra Pratab's mobile phone.

The BJP had failed to gather a significant crowd and the inability of its star campaigner to reach the meeting site was only a blessing in disguise.

Hardly a few hundred people had flocked at the Paljor Stadium here for the BJP rally.