File photo of Congress President Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra
Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, wants his name off the no-frisking list at airports. Today, he used Facebook to make his message abundantly clear.
"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 ...." Mr Vadra wrote in his status message on the social networking site.
The businessman, who has been repeatedly targeted by the ruling BJP over controversial land deals and also been accused of enjoying VIP security privileges, had in an earlier post alleged that his name had not been removed from the no-frisking list because of a "conspiracy to malign his image."
He was reacting to the government saying last week that there were no plans to remove his name from the VIP list.
"Maybe I need to personally go to every airport and delete my name. Will that work? Or is it a part of a larger conspiracy to malign my image? I am humble and as normal as any citizen. So please treat me like one," he had written on Saturday.
The no-frisking privilege is granted to constitutional figures and those who have elite Special Protection Group cover, including Mr Vadra's wife Priyanka, along with her mother Sonia Gandhi and her brother Rahul Gandhi, who are the two top leaders of the Congress party. They are spared the security checks that every other passenger has to go through at the airport.
"I am clear but wish the concerned authorities would understand that I am not a VVIP or a VIP," Mr Vadra said.
"I have given my consent to remove my name from this list many times. My conduct says it, but apparently the analysis disclosed by the government on my threat perception, allegedly says I am not required to be on this list. So why the double standard in removing my name from the VVIP list?" he questioned.