In a stunning volte-face in the background of the growing proximity between the Congress-led UPA government and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the civil aviation ministry on Thursday allowed vehicles carrying BSP chief Mayawati to drive right up to her aircraft on tarmacs at civil airports across the country. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security issued orders on this after the Union home ministry gave its go-ahead on security grounds, top aviation sources told this newspaper.
When she was UP chief minister, Ms Mayawati had asked that her bulletproof car be allowed up to the tarmac at civil airports, but this request was rejected in February this year, just months before the Uttar Pradesh polls. She could then drive on the tarmac only at airports in UP as she was CM.
The BSP then lost power, but the Congress-led UPA government has grown increasingly dependent on the BSP’s support to stay in power at the Centre.