The BJP has sought to offer a clarification for the mysterious black box that was allegedly part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter cavalcade in north Karnataka’s Chitradurga on 12 April, with the party’s district president KS Naveen telling Deccan Herald that the box was “part of the SPG unit and contained a teleprompter and other equipment to deck up the dais for PM’s speech”.
Slamming the Congress, which had written to the Election Commission demanding a probe into the incident, KS Naveen, president of BJP’s Chitradurga unit, said their allegations did not even warrant a “casual look”.
“A set of teleprompters, their cables, party logos to be fixed on to the dais and synchronisation unit was all present in the box… Being a president of the state unit of a national party, if he (Dinesh Gundu Rao) does not know what is part of the PM’s convoy, he should immediately resign from his office. As they are out of power for five years now, they seem to have forgotten about the security provided for the prime minister.”KS Naveen, BJP Chitradurga unit president to Deccan Herald
‘What Was in the Black Trunk?’: Congress
In a video released by the Congress leaders, including KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao, a few unidentified people could be seen carrying a black box to an Innova vehicle standing nearby.
On Sunday, 14 April, Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma asked the prime minister to come clean on the issue and said the EC should inquire into the contents of the trunk.
Sharma said the Congress' Karnataka unit has already filed a complaint with the EC in this regard.
“We saw there were three more choppers escorting the prime minister’s helicopter. After landing, a black trunk was taken out and whisked away in a private car which was not part of the SPG cascade.”Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma, as quoted by PTI
The JD(S)’s official Twitter handle also alleged double standards, claiming that while Election Commission officials checked CM Kumaraswamy’s car multiple times in a day, they aren’t concerned about the mysterious box that was allegedly shipped from PM’s helicopter to a private car.
When The Quint had contacted the district police, they had said they were not aware of the box or the contents of the box.
“The prime minister’s security and contents of the helicopters are handled by the SPG,” said a senior police officer.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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