In the mid 1970s, Sanjay Gandhi held no position in government, but was undoubtedly the most powerful man in India because his mother was then prime minister Indira Gandhi and he reportedly took key political decisions during those dreadful 19 months when a state of Emergency was enforced in this country.
When Sanjay then flew to the states, despite his non government status, chief ministers like Narain Dutt Tiwari (Uttar Pradesh) brushed aside protocol and welcomed him at the airport.
This scenario was repeated when his elder brother took over as Congress general secretary after Sanjay's death in an air crash on June 23, 1980. As you can read in the first link, left, below, chief ministers like T Anjaiah (Andhra Pradesh) rushed to the airport to receive Rajiv Gandhi.
Unlike Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, who held no official position when chief ministers received them at airports, Amit Anilchandra Shah is India's home minister.
Yet, it is highly unusual to see a chief minister travel to the airport to receive a Cabinet minister, a protocol requirement usually reserved for the President of the Republic, the vice-president and the prime minister.
Please click on the image for a glimpse of Amitbhai's arrival at Bhopal airport.
IMAGE: That Amit Anilchandra Shah is the second most powerful person in the Bharatiya Janata Party -- and indeed, the country -- was acknowledged by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's journey to Raja Bhoj airport on Friday.
After becoming MP chief minister in 2020, Chouhan has appeared a different man in office than the one who had been mukhya mantri multiple times.Did Mama want a quiet moment with Amitbhai so he could explain what measures he had taken in Khargone where communal violence erupted last week?
After his arrival in Bhopal, Shah on Friday held a 2-km roadshow from the Krishna Pranami temple to the BJP's MP HQ where petals were showered on him.
The Shah roadshow perhaps an indication that an assembly election in MP could be held earlier than its December 2023 schedule.
Photograph: PTI Photo
Photograph curated by Manisha Kotian/ Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
