Sonia`s son-in-law Robert Vadra may lose frisking immunity, hints Aviation Minister

Zee Media Bureau/Hemant Abhishek

New Delhi: On his first day in office, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati on Thursday indicated that Congress president Sonia Gandhi`s son-in-law Robert Vadra could lose the privilege of not being frisked at airports. When asked whether Vadra would continue to be in the VIP list and not be checked at airports, Raju said, "Security should be meaningful and not ornamental. It will depend if the Home Ministry feels there is a threat perception, and I am not talking about Vadra, we`ll have to see."
Ever since Narendra Modi-led NDA swept the polls, rumour was rife that Robert Vadra would be deprived of the powers he enjoyed while the grand old party was in power.
Interestingly, Vadra, the husband of Priyanka Gandhi, is the only civilian who is not frisked at airports.
After Narendra Modi-led government took charge, a senior BCAS official had said, "We are expecting the list of those exempted from frisking to get trimmed under the new NDA government." Some sources within the Civil Aviation Ministry had said that the outgoing Manmohan Singh-led government did everything to scuttle the various RTI applications filed to seek information regarding the reasons behind Vadra`s name being included in the elite list.
The Home Ministry had once replied to a RTI application saying that Vadra has been included in the list as he is accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi, who is protected by Special Protection Group (SPG).
During the election campaign, Modi and Arun Jaitley had said there will be no witch-hunt against Vadra and law will be allowed to take its own course.
With Agency Inputs