NARENDRA MODI - MEMORIES ALONG THE HISTORIC PATHWAY.

NARENDRA MODI - MEMORIES ALONG THE HISTORIC PATHWAY.

Special Protection Group

Today, during his acceptance speech, the prime minister-designate Sh. Narendra Modi got emotional while making a mention of former Prime Minister Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and said with a touch of sadness in his tone that it would have been an icing on the cake had the ailing leader been present among them.  While watching those scenes on television, it brought back a flood of memories that defined my days with Sh. Vajpayee as an S.P.G officer. Even though the S.P.G officers are best known to have a reputation for remaining politically non-partisan as we develop an intended feeling of renunciation and revulsion towards our attachment to any political leader, it’s an accepted fact that , many S.P.G officers during those days, liked to work shoulder to shoulder with Sh. A.B. Vajpayee. It’s no surprise that Sh. Narendra Modi got emotional while mentioning Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee as he always holds him in the highest regard.

Now, when Mr. Modi is all set to become the Prime minister of India, I remember those moments, those memories along the historic pathway when our team accompanied the prime minister to Gujarat to witness the oath taking ceremony of Sh. Narendra Modi, who got a landslide victory in the Gujarat assembly polls in December 2002. Yet at the same time, I feel very passionately about the Special Protection Group, an organization so closely associated with the twists and turns of India’s political history since 1985, witnessing in muted observance the emergence, survival and of course fall of many heroes.  They are the ones who stand next to the history.……. An old picture from my Album.   

P.S:- 22nd December 2002. When we were told that our team has been earmarked to accompany the Prime Minister Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Gujarat to witness the oath taking ceremony of Sh. Narendra Modi, who got a landslide victory in the Gujarat assembly polls, we never expected anything extraordinary. But once the chopper carrying the Prime Minister landed at the helipad near Sardar Patel Sports Complex where Mr. Modi and his nine Ministers of Cabinet rank and six Ministers of State were all set to take the oath of office and secrecy, we could see the enormity of the massive saffron enthusiasm everywhere. Overwhelmed with the third consecutive victory of the party, about a lakh of saffron-clad BJP enthusiasts were cheering their heart out inside that huge stadium.

Outside the stadium, it was total chaos with the BJP supporters elbowing their way into the complex, throwing the entire security system haywire and thus creating some sort of concern. As thousands thronged the venue, the security system arranged was unable to put everyone through the security check as planned.

After the Governor, Sunder Singh Bhandari, administered the oath of office to Mr. Modi and his 15 Ministers which lasted for about 10 minutes, he and his Cabinet colleagues took blessings from Mr. Vajpayee, Mr. Advani and others in the dais. Among the dignitaries present were the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the Union Human Resources Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, the Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, the Jharkhand Chief Minister, Babulal Marandi, the party general secretary, Arun Jaitley, and some popular Hindi film stars. The former Punjab police chief, K.P.S. Gill, who briefly served as the security adviser to Mr. Modi during the riots, was also present.

 As an ex-SPG officer, I used to say…” Why you wanna try, when even the gunshots can't get us down”.