An incident that caused a stir occurred on Monday when officials at the Parliament complex reportedly failed to recognise former Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, making him wait for a considerable time. He had visited to collect his renewed identity card as a former Member of Parliament (MP).
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has assumed full responsibility for security at the new Parliament building, with parliamentary secretariat staff assisting specially trained personnel in administrative tasks.
Against this backdrop, the former Nagpur MP arrived at the reception area around noon on Monday, like any ordinary visitor, without assistants.
After completing the security checks there, he proceeded to the Centralised Pass Issue Cell (CPIC).
With the lunch hour approaching, officials were busy issuing entry passes to ministers' assistants and drivers. Amid the rush, they reportedly failed to recognise Purohit and kept him waiting.
Sources said that despite making multiple inquiries, he received little attention from the officials.
After waiting for nearly an hour, an exasperated Purohit raised his voice in anger, asking, "I have been a three-time MP and a Governor for three states. Is this the kind of runaround even I have to go through?"
Realising that he was a senior BJP leader and a former Governor, the officials rushed over immediately and took steps to issue him his appropriate identity card.
Who is Purohit?
Banwarilal Purohit served as an MLA for the Nagpur East constituency in Maharashtra in the years 1978 and 1980, and became a state minister in 1982. In 1984 and 1989, he was elected to the Lok Sabha (MP) from Nagpur on behalf of the Congress party.
Later, he joined the BJP and became an MP again in 1996. He served as the Governor of Tamil Nadu from 2017 to 2021, and as the Governor of Punjab from 2021 until February 2024. He subsequently resigned from his post due to health reasons and has since stepped back from active politics.
(This story first appeared on dinamani.com, reported by Bharani Dharan)
