‘‘Sonia’s CM gives Sangma royal treatment’’. This, on September 16, was the heading of the The Indian Express’ exclusive report that Uttaranchal CM N.D. Tiwari denied within hours of its publication.During NCP leader P.A. Sangma’s day-long stay in Dehra Dun, while the CM ensured that he was accorded full privileges of a ‘‘state guest’’, his own party workers burned Sangma’s effigies, incensed by his utterances over Sonia’s foreign origin.Refuting the Express report, Tiwari told a media gathering: ‘‘Sangma was treated as a special guest as per protocol.” While the Congress leadership here has already sought an explanation from Tiwari, there now appears a new twist in the tale. Documents in possession of The Indian Express clearly show that not only Sangma but also Tariq Anwar — another NCP leader but otherwise of not much importance — was also treated as a state guest.On September 2 (three days before Tiwari’s arrival in Dehra Dun), a state deputy secretary in-charge of protocol, T.K. Pant, directed the administration to give preferential treatment to Sangma and Tariq.
