Modi's first salvo at Cong? Vadra may no longer be exempt from frisking

The NDA government at the Centre may re-look into Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra’s security exemptions at airports. The new Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati hinted at such a rethink on Thursday, IBNLive reported. [caption id=“attachment_1549691” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Robert Vadra is currently allowed an exemption if he is travelling with an SPG protectee.[/caption] Pusapati said, “Security should be meaningful and not ornamental. It will depend on whether the Home Ministry feels there is a threat perception, and I am not talking about Vadra, we’ll have to see.” Vadra currently is in the VIP list and enjoys the privilege of going unchecked at airports. The change of guard at the Centre, however, can change the privileges he used to get as the husband of Priyanka Gandhi, who is an SPG protectee. Earlier, various passenger bodies had also objected to Vadra being exempted from frisking at airports. RTI applications too had been filed in this regard. According to a Times of India report , last week, the Air Passengers’ Association of India had written to aviation secretary Ashok Lavasa questioning why Vadra was getting a special privilege that is otherwise reserved for Constitutional authorities only.