BENGALURU: Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a precedent by asking the governor, chief minister and deputy chief minister not to receive him at HAL airport when he arrived there straight from Greece to greet ISRO scientists. “Since I had to come from a faraway place, the arrival time was not confirmed. So, I requested the honourable CM, DyCM and governor not to take trouble (to receive him) at such an early hour. Next time when I come on an official visit, the CM and DyCM protocol will be maintained,” the PM said at HAL airport.
However, senior BJP leader and former minister R Ashoka took a dig at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DyCM DK Shivakumar for not receiving Modi. Meanwhile, Shivakumar hit back stating that Ashoka’s words are a testimony to the Centre and PMO not taking the latter into account. “We were ready to welcome the PM as per the protocol. But respecting the message of the PMO we did not. Let Ashoka speak after getting information from the PMO,” he said.
“We got an unofficial message from the PMO that we should not receive Modi. We requested the chief secretary to write to the PMO and after that, the PMO officially informed us that no one, including the governor, CM and DyCM, should come to welcome the PM. Hence, we obliged. We respect the position of PM as he came to honour our scientists. We welcome him,” Shivakumar said.
“We don’t want to behave like other states. We know how to respect the PM. Modiji is the Prime Minister of our country, we respect his position,” Shivakumar said. Siddaramaiah or his office did not react. The CMO actually reserved time for CM in his tour programme to receive Modi as per protocol and waited until midnight, but in vain. The PM thanked the state government for sending officials to receive him. Modi, who was scheduled to arrive at 5.55 a.m., landed at 6 a.m.