Ex-PM lands without security baggage

Half an hour before touchdown, taxi operators crowded around at the Taxi Union office near the airport entrance, watching a film on cable network. ‘‘Last year, there was a complete ban on movement. The area where you see the taxis parked was flooded with sarkari and BJP vehicles,’’ said a shopkeeper. This time though, things almost got out of hand. There were no traffic restrictions until the last moment when word finally got around.

‘‘Then, it was a chopper piloted by two Air Force aircrafts that brought Vajpayee to Prini. Today, he had to contend sitting all the way on the front seat of an Ambassador,’’ said a security personnel on duty. What witnessed an army of over 1,000 policemen and paramilitary forces last year when Vajpayee was here, saw about one-fifth the force today. ‘‘Sab kursi ko salam hai (It’s all honour of the post),’’ said an SPG official.

Until an hour before Vajpayee landed, BJP workers struggled to put up a party flag anywhere near the airport. With minutes left, they found a way by tying up banners between poles outside the airport. If the BJP workers were a trifle lethargic, their band of hired folk artistes took the initiative. A troupe of Himachali dancers and singers walked right into the airport, drums and props in tow, until a CISF sub-inspector stopped them. By the time the former PM landed, the troupe struck up folk tunes in welcome. BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal and an ex-minister received Vajpayee and his family.