Vadra off no-frisking VIP list

 Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, will be frisked at airports now with the Civil Aviation Ministry finally taking him off the privileged list.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju cleared the file regarding taking Vadra off the no-frisking list on Tuesday evening, a day after he took to Facebook to convey that he wanted to be off the list of VIPs exempted from frisking at airports.

A Civil Aviation Ministry spokesperson said the government has revised the list of no-frisking passengers at the domestic airports and Vadra's name is not on it.

Vadra, husband of Priyanka Gandhi who is an SPG protectee, was exempted from frisking at airports when he travelled with an SPG protectee.

Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for civil aviation, said the previous government gave Vadra the facility “only when he was travelling with an SPG protectee. Now, he has himself asked to be removed from the list.”

“I appreciate that my name will not appear in the VVIP list anymore. I hope this is a dead issue now and will not be used against me. My Best wishes,” Vadra commented on Facebook after the decision became public.

On Monday, Vadra had commented, “Plans to visit every terminal in the Airports in India and add a white tape on my name from the VVIP list and my signature on top!! So look out.”

The privilege of seamless access to airports is granted to Constitutional figures and those who have Special Protection Group (SPG) cover, including Sonia Gandhi, son Rahul and daughter Priyanka.

Last week, the government had said that there was no plans to remove his name from the VIP list, prompting Vadra to state that there was a “conspiracy to malign his image.”

“This is something Priyanka had herself asked for, Vadra had asked for. This is essentially an issue because of SPG rule book,” said Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan.

The Civil Aviation Ministry had written to the Home Ministry in October to carry out a threat perception check of exempted people and sought its views on pruning the list.