‘Badal Kakaji, when will this flight land?’

Even in the air, the tension on the ground wasn’t too far away. The air hostesses were their hospitable best but most of it was lost on the SGPC lot, wary of the ‘‘dangers’’ and the massive police presence that lay ahead in Amritsar. No doubt, the Congress high command’s stern message to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ‘‘not to let any untoward incident take place’’ had reached the skies above. But the Badal camp wasn’t taking any any chances—after all, principal rival Gurcharan Singh Tohra claimed to have around 95 men under his wing. And it’s never over until the last ballot is cast and the fat lady sings.

So Rajya Sabha MP Sukhbir Badal marched up and down the aisle, hectoring his men. ‘‘Don’t leave the plane when we land until I will tell you. There may be police waiting on the tarmac to arrest some of the members,’’ Badal Jr darkly said.

His cousin and Gidderbaha MLA Manpreet Badal had personally driven one of the buses that transported the SGPC members from Sirsa to Delhi.

In fact, there was a mishap en route to the Capital which wouldn’t have augured too well for the superstitious: A Qualis jeep that was part of the cavalcade—there were also Lancers and Honda Citys, a Pajero and a Prado—carrying the mediapersons banged into a truck, injuring three journalists.

On board, the SGPC members tried to filter their nervousness through the slogan ‘‘Wahe Guru ji ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru ji ki Fateh’’, sending the air hostesses into fits of giggles.

And at least some of them put up their feet and breathed easy. Jet’s service is much more sohne than Indian Airlines and Sahara, two SGPC members observed, stroking their long grey beards.

It wasn’t a sentiment the airhostesses may have echoed: they had a tough time persuading their passengers to wear seat belts through the one-hour flight. And nobody heard the repeated pleas by the cabin crew to secure permission from the Director General of Civil Aviation before rolling the cameras on board.

When the aircraft finally landed at Amritsar at 2 p.m., most of the SGPC members were up in a flash, grabbing their hand baggage and bolting in the general direction of the exit.

Sukhbir Badal had to literally herd them back into their seats. ‘‘Kakaji, when will this flight end?’’ asked one member.

In Amritsar, an upbeat Parkash Singh Badal herded his band of loyal SGPC members into the Golden Temple and got their nod to select the presidential candidate.

The only spot of bad news for him came from the Sikh Gurdwara Judicial Commission, which disqualified seven of his members from voting, bringing the number of his loyalists ineligible for voting to 12.

The 12 disqualified members were later given the go-ahead to vote by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Their votes will be kept separate and not added up with the others.