Congress general secretary keeps police in the dark, drives to temple in ordinary car.
Congress general secretary keeps police in the dark, drives to temple in ordinary car.
CHANDIGARH: All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi made his political debut in Punjab on Monday, offering obeisance at the Golden Temple in Amritsar and reviving memories of Operation Blue Star his grandmother Indira was responsible for.
Making an uninformed visit to the Sikh holy place, Rahul, however, committed a grave security breach, which left the state police fuming.
Uninformed police were taken by surprise when his aircraft landed in Amritsar in the early hours. No VIP security could be provided to Rahul, who otherwise enjoys Z-plus.
Senior police officers expressed strong resentment to the National Security Guard over the breach.
Instead of using a bullet-proof car, a mandatory security measure, Rahul went to the temple in an ordinary car with plainclothes Special Protection Group personnel escorting him.
Wearing a saffron headgear, he squatted among other devotees in the sanctum sanctorum, listening to kirtan before going to the community kitchen where he partook of langar.
Unlike his mother Sonia, who had, during her visit to the Golden Temple, termed Blue Star “unfortunate” in an effort to calm Sikh nerves, Rahul remained silent. He spent a good 45 minutes on the temple premises, but did not utter a word on the operation to drive out hidden “militants”.
Radical Sikh organisations have been demanding an apology from the Congress for Blue Star, in which hundreds of Sikhs were killed, besides leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
A spokesman for the Dal Khalsa said, “We wish Rahul had tendered an apology on behalf of the Gandhi family for Blue Star. But we would not comment as it was his personal visit.”
Unaware of his visit, the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee also could not offer Rahul a siropa (ward of honour), a practice for VIPs visiting the Golden Temple.
The Gandhi scion later went to the historic Jallianwala Bagh and the Durgiana temple before beginning his three-day tour of Punjab’s 17 districts from Mohali with senior Congress leaders.
At Mohali, he watched a kabaddi match.
b_ajay@dnaindia.net 
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