Ex-PM lands without security baggage

When A.B. Vajpayee touched down at Prini today, the former-PM tag was not part of the baggage. This time, it could be musings in peace, stri...

When A.B. Vajpayee touched down at Prini today, the former-PM tag was not part of the baggage. This time, it could be musings in peace, strictly off the record.

8216;8216;Pehle bahut zimmedari thi. Ab unmukt hoke aaya hun Earlier there was a lot of responsibility. Now I8217;ve come with a free mind,8217;8217; Vajpayee told reporters at Bhuntar airport where he landed in a private Dornier aircraft. There were no secretaries around him, no files for holiday homework, not even the fire brigade that trailed Vajpayee8217;s cavalcade from Bhuntar to Prini the last time.

Half an hour before touchdown, taxi operators crowded around at the Taxi Union office near the airport entrance, watching a film on cable network. 8216;8216;Last year, there was a complete ban on movement. The area where you see the taxis parked was flooded with sarkari and BJP vehicles,8217;8217; 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.

8216;8216;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,8217;8217; 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. 8216;8216;Sab kursi ko salam hai It8217;s all honour of the post,8217;8217; 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.