VP Singh Badnore will serve as both Governor of Punjab and Chandigarh Administrator.
Traffic must not stop for him, new Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore told the police chief at a meeting with senior bureaucrats and other officials today, his first at the city secretariat.
Mr Badnore, 68, said the police must ensure that the movement of his cavalcade around the city does not cause inconvenience to citizens, stating that he knows the pain of being stuck in traffic jams caused by roads being closed for what is called "VIP movement."
"I don't want citizens to face any inconvenience because of me. In Delhi I have been stuck in traffic jams resulting from VIP movement while I was an MP," said Mr Badnore, who has served as a member of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. He has also been a four-time BJP legislator in Rajasthan and was the state's agriculture minister in his last term.
Despite his many years in politics, however, Mr Badnore seems untouched by the VIP culture so prevalent among his colleagues both in states and in Delhi. Earlier this week, he refused an umbrella during his oath ceremony as Governor of Punjab, when he saw policemen on duty getting wet in the rain.
Mr Badnore, who schooled at the famous Mayo College in Ajmer and is a graduate in business management, will serve as both Governor of Punjab and Chandigarh Administrator, as his predecessors have since 1984.
The Modi government was all set to announce a separate administrator for Chandigarh, but did follow through after BJP ally and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal objected.
Haryana and Punjab share a capital in Chandigarh, which has caused an intense turf battle for years.