It is now known to all that the Prime Minister had suddenly switched his mode of travel from helicopter to road transport due to inclement weather conditions. However, his car was stranded for twenty minutes on an over bridge due to the agitating farmers blocking the route. Ultimately, NaMo had abandoned his travel and returned to Delhi. The concerned political leadership then decided to convert the embarrassment into political advantage by claiming the incident to be serious security breach and blamed the state government with issue of notices to senior officials of the state.

The breach was apparent but it was neither a serious threat to the life of the Prime Minister nor was it a failure of the state authorities.

The procedure is clear with enactment of the Special Protection Group under enactment in February 1986 following assassination of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31 1984.

The Act provided for supreme powers to the SPG and the state law and order system were made to be subordinate to the Special Protection to ensure perfect security arrangements for the supreme political dignitary. The SPG is attending to security arrangements and ought to have known the blockage caused by agitating farmers. The farmers, after all, had not come on the route suddenly or unexpectedly.

It is argued that the Punjab Police ought to have cleared the route by forcibly removing farmers to get the route cleared and sanitized in time for the Prime Minister’s cavalcade to move safely and smoothly.

The Prime Minister had tolerated the blockage by agitating farmers for a whole year of the route from Delhi to Punjab, Haryana and other states. The plea was no use of brute force against agitating farmers as they were fighting for what they believe to be their rights. It is strange that forces that approved his approach and tolerated the farmers’ agitation for a whole year are now condemning the opposition regime for following the similar approach.

Though the Prime Minister was claimed to be visiting the site in Punjab for the first time in his eight years in office, it was in reality a political propagation visit at a time when the state was going to polls along with four others. It was expected that the Election Commission would announce the time table for the state assembly election by the weekend, which was announced on January 8. Appointing special inquiry committee and not the Commission of inquiry and serving notices to state officials was a political move with eyes to gain advantage over other rivals.

It clearly indicates that there was no serious threat to life of the Prime Minister though. The desperately resorting to such political tactics by NaMo regime actually indicates a loss of confidence. It came about with fiasco of its campaign meeting which was to be orgainsed jointly by the former chief minister Amarinder Singh and his ally the BJP where only about 1950 people were present in audience and 19,500 seats remained vacant. Modi’s detractors claim that he returned without attending the rally because of the little gathering which was considered too little for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

I know of the power of the SPG from my personal encounter with a Sten gun laced constable from Haryana outside the parliament house compound on parliament street side in July 1987. As I crossed him to go to Parliament annexe he asked me to move hurriedly. To show him my pass as I put to get my purse he quickly put his stem gun end to my stomach.

The ACP Singh of New Delhi supervising the vehicles movement at Transport Bhavan saw the drama few yards away came rushing in his jeep and pulled me away. Outside the transport Bhavan he delivered his angry lecture. He said he knew I am media person walking to Parliament house every day though he did not know my name. The constable with stinging did not know my identity but he knows he would certainly be suspended if senior man of the SGP found me in the sanitized area before the Prime Minister cavalcade reached. The half educated man would know that he would be suspended without possible relief. He is Haryana policeman on temporary duty as the SGP force and authorized to fire and kill you.

When I protested asserting such things do not happen in a democracy the ACP told me angrily. ‘You cover the parliament proceedings but you do not read the legislations in full. Go to your office and read it now. I was aghast on reading to realize what power and authorization given under the Act to a small group created to protect one individual. Same group with similar authorization was in command in this incident.

I also recall the warning shot by the PLO chief Arafat who had delivered it to tell Indira Gandhi in 1983 at the conference of the Non Aligned Nations Executive that the security men who attended to her security were all salaried men while his security cordon was manned by his friends to enable him to survive two dozen attempts on his life. You get killed only when a determined man or group wants you dead. But no one wants to take life of the most efficient and effective NaMo. It is the claim of his fan club though they suddenly see a serious breach.