Dehradun: Dehradun’s district magistrate (DM) and senior superintendent of police (SSP) have been removed from their posts by the Uttarakhand government for their alleged failure to provide a suitable vehicle to the BJP’s presidential nominee, Droupadi Murmu, when she landed at Jolly Grant Airport in the state capital on 11 July, ThePrint has learnt.
The airport director had arranged a Mahindra Xylo to take Murmu from the airport apron, or tarmac, to the arrivals building, but it had to be replaced with a Bolero. This, official sources said, irked the people who were travelling with the presidential candidate.
Five days after the visit, on 16 July, DM R. Rajesh Kumar and SSP Janmejay Khanduri were transferred.
Kumar was first shifted to the State Secretariat as additional secretary without portfolio and then made secretary in-charge of the Department of Health and Family Welfare two days later. Khanduri was assigned the post of deputy inspector general (DIG) at Dehradun’s Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) headquarters — considered to be a primarily administrative position.
Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that that this action was taken for their failure to ensure that the presidential candidate was provided with a “proper” vehicle to take her from the tarmac to the arrivals building.
However, an official in the CMO said that the Dehradun district administration did arrange for two vehicles to receive “the VIP”, but these were not given an entry pass by the airport authorities.
“While the district administration was not constitutionally bound to provide protocol to her [since Murmu does not hold any official post], two Innova vehicles were specially arranged. But they were not granted entry by the airport management to reach to the apron area,” a government functionary said on condition of anonymity.
The now-former DM and SSP also said as much in an 11 July letter to the state protocol secretary, in which they claimed that not only were their vehicles not allowed in, but that the airport director neglected to arrange for a “proper” car for Murmu. “All responsibilities as to inadequacy of conveyance leading to the controversy lie with the airport director,” said the letter, written in Hindi, which ThePrint has accessed.
When contacted, Jolly Grant Airport director Prabhakar Mishra said that the airline by which Murmu had travelled should have arranged for her transport but it only had a “bus” available, leading to the airport having to “pitch in”.
Droupudi Murmu, who was on a whirlwind tour to campaign for the presidential poll, left Dehradun on the same day after meeting with Uttarakhand legislators. She was accompanied, among others, by Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
According to state BJP spokesperson Shadab Shams, Murmu’s short stay in Uttarakhand passed smoothly. “We have no idea as to what happened inside the airport, but the state government and administration provided full security to her, per protocol. She is entitled for Z-plus security cover and was provided a proper vehicle during her stay in Dehradun” Shams said.
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Finger-pointing over ‘botched’ pick-up
In the letter they wrote to the state protocol secretary on 11 July, Kumar and Khanduri blamed the incident on the airport director.
“It was informed by the SDM [sub-divisional magistrate] that during monitoring of conveyance for VIP on the morning of 11 July, the airport director had said that a Xylo SUV was arranged by [airport authorities] and no other vehicle was needed. Entry into the airport was not allowed to any other vehicle,” the letter said.
However, the letter went on to say that because of a malfunction in the Xylo, the airport officials replaced it with a Bolero, which was not an appropriate vehicle for a “VIP”.
“[I]t was known later in the afternoon that the Xylo was replaced with another vehicle by the airport director. The airport director also informed Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who was present at the airport during Murmu’s arrival,” the letter added.
“Thus, the airport director neither arranged for a proper vehicle nor did he allow the vehicles of the district administration officials to go to the apron area, resulting in inadequate arrangement of vehicles and obstruction of the VIP’s movements,” it concluded.
When contacted, Uttarakhand government’s protocol secretary Anand Suman refused to speak on the issue, saying that he was “not aware” of any “vehicle controversy”.
ThePrint tried to seek the comment of principal secretary to the Chief Minister and media head Abhinav Kumar but he too did not wish to speak on the issue. Former Dehradun DM R. Rajesh Kumar did not respond to calls.
Airport director Prabhakar Mishra, meanwhile, said that the responsibility for Murmu’s transportation lay primarily with the airline by which she had travelled.
“Since it was a private aircraft, ground handling was to be done by Alliance Air. It was also responsible for providing vehicles to her, but they only had a bus to use. Thus, we had to pitch in and arrange for the vehicle. Our previously arranged Xylo SUV went out of order and it was replaced by a Bolero van, which was used to bring her from the apron area to the arrival terminal,” Mishra said.
He added that permission for vehicles to enter the apron area is granted only after a driver’s pass is issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). “We did not receive any driver’s pass from the BCAS to enter the apron area. Why would the airport authority prevent state government vehicles from going to the apron area?” Mishra said.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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