Jurisdiction wars on Parliament gate stall traffic

Rarely does a high profile Member of Parliament gets stuck in the mad Delhi traffic

Rarely does a high profile Member of Parliament gets stuck in the mad Delhi traffic.
But, this is surely going to bring a smile to the face of the "aam aadmi" upon whom the whole edifice of our government policy stands.


Circle of influence: Parliament has several layers of security with a
number of forces guarding different areas

It was past seven on Tuesday evening and a nice breeze was flowing, bringing much respite from the torrid heat wave in the city. A beaming government had just beaten the Opposition in its own game. Friends-turned-foes-turned-friends the Yadav duo of Lalu and Mulayam and Sibu Soren had saved major embarrassment for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and BJP patriarch LK Advani just went out of gate no. 4 of Parliament.

Cars, carrying the high and mighty, have started taking the route to one of the most preferred gates for the VVIPs, but there was a long row, as if it was a toll gate.

Just 50 meters away, a beaming Pranab Mukherjee was giving bytes to the media, comfortably numb to the growing queue on the gate.

The boom barrier was up and the Prime Minister was on his way from the house towards his convoy. Though there was nothing mechanical about the problem.

A CRPF Deputy Commandant was busy resolving a matter of jurisdiction with a senior official of Parliament

Power corridor

The Parliament building has 12 gates. The main gate, Gate No. 1, is on the Sansad Marg. Gate No. 4 that opens towards North Block is usually used by the Prime Minister and top cabinet ministers.

security. The Parliament has various levels of security, in which the CRPF is responsible for manning the entry and exit points while inside the complex Parliament Security maintains vigil.

After the senior Parliament security staffer rebuked his junior colleague, an altercation ensued. The CRPF officer threatened the Parliament security official and his staff members of dire consequences.

Within minutes CRPF men from nearby posts rushed to the spot, adding to the confusion. The otherwise alert security personnel, battling for personal pride, somehow forgot that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cavalcade was approaching the gate.

The Other Side

Both the CRPF and the Parliament Security officials refused comment over the issue.

But, by that time the SPG had sprung into action. A senior SPG official directed both the officers to return to their respective duties.
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A CRPF constable, posted near the gate, said that the Deputy Commandant was posted at parliament security only recently after completing his commando training.