For once, Central security personnel protecting the AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, employed their skills to do their duty without troubling road users and the public.
Though the state police was aware of the Congress leader’s visit to the city on Wednesday, the security part was completely handled by Special Protection Group (SPG).
Mr Gandhi, who landed in Chennai at around 1.50 pm after travelling in economy class in a private airline from Delhi, left in a bullet-proof car with just another car escorting him to Thuraipakkam to attend a party event without causing any traffic snarls. He left the city in the evening in a similar manner.
There was no large-scale deployment of policemen, no gathering of Congress leaders at the airport and there were no stopping of traffic to make way for Mr Gandhi.
“Whatever assistance needed by the SPG was provided by the state,” said a senior police officer. “It was supposed to be a low-key affair, but the media came to know about it as he travelled with regular passengers in a private airlines flight.”
An official from a central agency said it would be easy for security agencies to handle VVIP schedule if there is less publicity. “It is good for the public also because they don’t have wait on the road,” he pointed out.