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niticentral.com http://www.niticentral.com/2013/12/09/after-4-state-rout-no -end- to-congress -arrogance-166726.html

After 4-State rout, no end to Congress arrogance

Sitt ing reading my morning papers, which were all obviously f ull of yesterdays election results and the rout

of the ruling Congress Party, I did notice that it was exceptionally quiet outs ide. Bliss f ully quiet actually. As

in no-busy-Monday-morning-traf f ic quiet.

Bliss, I thought and continued reading about Rahul Gandhi promising to listen to the common man.

People have given us a message, he said.

And then I got a message. My message was f rom the yoga teacher who arrived lat e, and huf f ed and puf f ed

and out raged, and mutt ered angrily about Nelson Mandela and Manmohan Singh.

And then the penny dropped.

The Prime Minister was apparently going to sign the condolence book f or dear Madiba at t he South Af rican

High Commission which is opposite our house. And my south Delhi st reet had been closed down.

So I went out into the street to see what was happeningwell, actually, I only got as f ar as my own gate

when an armed policeman ordered me back inside.

I said I just wanted to have a look, but he was int ransigent. Back inside. Now.

The street was cordoned of f , with barriers everywhere. The colony gates had been locked. Police vans,

sarkari ambassadors, po lice and yet more police. Crikey, even an armed cop on the ro of of the house bang

opposite o urs. Snif f er dogs had gone down the st reet at 8.00 am I was to ld. About 9 oclock all cars parked

on t he road had to be removed. From 9.30 am no- one was allowed outside.

Obvious ly we received no advance notice of this high-handed closing down of our s treet.

As it happened, we had no urgent appo intments outside between 9.00 am-10.45 am when the barriers were

f inally removed, but that is no t t he point. Why on earth should so many busy peoples busy Monday

morning routines be sabotaged because of one man?

Schoo l, medical emergencies, o f f ice, dental appointment, taking the car f or a service walking the dog, go ing

f or o nes normal morning run whatever the event, we all have lives, and to have a cop with a gun ordering

me back inside my own home is ugly. And to tally inappropriate. And way, way over the to p.

http://www.niticentral.com/2013/12/09/after-4-state-rout-no-end-to-congress-arrogance-166726.htmlhttp://www.niticentral.com/

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