BJP MLA comes to secretariat on foot, harassed by cop

Haryana MLAs are known to zip around in style in their SUVs. But BJP MLA Pawan Saini, who has set himself apart by bicycling around Chandigarh, had to face harassment when a rude cop doubted his and his security personnel’s identity at the civil secretariat on Tuesday afternoon.

Saini, an MLA from Ladwa in Kurukshetra district, reached the Haryana vidhan sabha, parked his bicycle and walked up to at the adjacent civil secretariat gate around 2 pm.

On being asked, Saini showed his identity card (IC) to the central industrial security force (CISF) security personnel.

The security personnel, who apparently had not seen such an IC before (as all MLAs go straight go to the secretariat’s porch in their vehicles after their staff show the documents at the gate), doubted the authenticity of Saini’s IC as well as that of his personal security officer’s.

The CISF personnel also told Saini that his security officer's uniform and arms could be fake because such articles were easily available on the open market. Saini, by the infuriated, called up senior officers of the CISF and sought the suspension of the CISF personnel who questioned him, as well as action against whomsoever assigned the personnel in question such duties. CISF officers apologised on the personnel’s behalf, while he himself asked pardon. Saini later said he forgave the personnel as he only wanted him to realise his mistake.