Police stop NSCI members from entering club during CM's visit; irate members try to stop Fadnavis' cavalcade.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the city police were left red-faced on Sunday after policemen stopped traffic to make way for his cavalcade and also denied members of National Sports Club of India (NSCI) entry to the club in Worli. Fadnavis was attending an event held in the club that day.
After being stopped from entering the club, NSCI members had a war of words with police, following which a few of the protesters tried to stop Fadnavis' cavalcade. They were restrained by the police, who used mild force. The matter became a full-blown controversy after footage of the incident was aired by a private news channel through Sunday and Monday. In particular, the channel showcased its shots of a policemen restraining a protester's arms and grabbing another by the shoulders, pulling him away from the path of the cavalcade.
On Sunday, Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, apologised on social networking site Twitter and promised an inquiry into the incident.
"I don't believe in VIP culture. Unless there is emergency or real threat perception inputs police shouldn't trouble the people," he said.
He also said, "I would make inquiry into the NSCI incidence (sic). Its unfortunate that people are put to such trouble."
He added, "My sincere apologies to those who were stopped by police unnecessarily. People in the state have always seen me stopping at traffic signals."
The city police, though, denied that traffic had been held up by VVIP movement. "Too many people had visited NSCI and the vehicles had come over on the roads, leading to traffic congestion on Sunday. It is not true that the traffic was stopped because of a VVIP," said joint commissioner of police, traffic, BK Upadhyay.
Speaking to the private news channel, Fadnavis also promised action against the erring cops and added that he had also taken note of the incident where people were made to wait for hours in the queue at the temple of Sai Baba in Shirdi when Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao had gone for darshan.
Fadnavis told the channel that he would also try to get state legislators to pay toll without any exemptions.
Former minister and Nationalist Congress party (NCP) spokesperson Nawab Malik said the incident was unfortunate, and added that since the chief minister had ordered an inquiry, the NCP hoped it would not recur.
Incidentally, after he took over as the chief minister, Fadnavis, in a departure from tradition, had announced he would be setting up a high-power committee (HPC) to allot security cover to VVIPs based on threat perceptions and intelligence inputs. This move would cut down on the number of policemen deployed for VIP security and make more manpower available for policing duties.
The decision of the committee, which would consist of senior state government and police officials, would be final and would not require political clearances.
Officials said this was a major departure from the usual practice, in which the chief minister or home minister would decide on the security deployment with political leaders and influential members of society looking to acquire Z plus security as a status symbol.
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