BENGALURU: The ill-treatment meted out to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot by the staff of a private airliner at KIA on Thursday afternoon has upset top officials at Raj Bhavan. “I have completed a decade at Raj Bhavan and have served three governors as protocol officer. I never saw the constitutional head treated in such a fashion,” M Venugopal, protocol officer at Raj Bhavan, told The New Indian Express.
He was an eyewitness to the entire episode on the tarmac at Terminal 2 of KIA. AirAsia India officials visited the governor’s office and apologised for the goof-up on behalf of their staff. “They conceded that they violated the protocol they were supposed to follow,” Venugopal said.
Narrating the sequence of events that unfolded since Thursday morning, the officer said the governor was originally booked to travel by a Star Air flight which was to take off at 9 am.
“However, since he arrived here late from Indore the previous night (Wednesday), it was decided to cancel the morning flight and book an afternoon flight. We decided to book AirAsia India’s 2.05 pm flight. Right from booking the ticket, our team was constantly in touch with the airline staff in connection with the governor’s travel,” Venugopal said. The airline was alerted about the governor’s arrival at KIA at 1.35 pm. “The governor never goes late and he was there 40 minutes before take-off,” he said. The governor is exempted from frisking.
“As per protocol, VIPs are called by the airline to board the flight only after the last passenger is in. We were alerted by ground handler Areefulla that the last shuttle bus with passengers had reached the aircraft for boarding before we could arrive. The convoy of vehicles along with the governor took maybe 8 minutes to reach the aircraft. When the governor alighted from his car in front of the aircraft, it was 2.06 pm. CCTV camera footage confirms this. The aircraft door was still open,” he said.
The entire team was taken aback when the governor was told by Areefulla that he could not enter the flight when he was standing near the step ladder.
“We said the governor is the first citizen of the state and constitutional head and could not be treated like this. We asked Areefulla to contact his manager at the airport (Zico Swaris). He too denied it. It was a shock to us as the airline staff were completely aware of the governor’s travel. It is a violation of protocol as there is a list of 33 categories of VIPs for whom flights are supposed to wait. The governor is fourth on that list,” Venugopal said.