French President’s visit: Chandigarh to ensure there is no repeat of Prime Minister visit fiasco

Modi publicly apologised to Chandigarh residents, over Twitter, and ordered a probe.

The administration’s explanations, in a three-page report it sent off to the Centre, did not cut much ice with a furious Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which slammed the administration for the disaster.

President Hollande is the chief guest at this year’s Republic Day parade in the Union Capital. His visit to the city designed by the modernist French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier is scheduled two days earlier and there is every likelihood that Prime Minister Modi may accompany him.

Even though the administration is yet to receive the final programme from the Centre, sources said instructions had been passed to the departments concerned and the police to ensure that arrangements were elaborate, and at the same time no inconvenience was caused to general public.

UT Deputy Inspector General of Police A S Cheema said that they would chalk out plans in such a manner that general public was not harassed without compromising security arrangements. “Our job is to serve the public and not to cause them any inconvenience,” said Cheema.

Few foreign leaders have visited Chandigarh before this. The last foreign head of government to visit was Stephen Harper, in November 2012, when he was Prime Minister of Canada. Earlier, in March 2011, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Geelani briefly stayed in Chandigarh when he came for the India-Pakistan semifinal at Mohali.

After the recent terror attacks in Paris, Hollande is amongst the most protected men in the world. The terrorist strike at the Pathankot Air Base, 235 km from here, and the continuing terror alerts across Punjab, will likely have been factored in by his security team in the planning of the visit.

Asked if arrangements for a joint visit by Hollande and Modi would be twice as tight as they were last time, UT Home Secretary Anurag Aggarwal said that instructions had been issued to make sure that city residents faced no hardship during this VVIP visit. That January 24 is a Sunday is also expected to help.

Hollande is likely to visit the Capitol Complex, Sector 1, Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19, Tagore Theatre, Rock Garden and Sector 17 Plaza.