Kerala Chief Minister-designate VD Satheesan has directed top police officials to reduce his security convoy to a maximum of three vehicles, consisting only of his official car, one pilot vehicle, and one escort vehicle.
Chief Minister, V. D. Satheesan
Kerala Chief Minister-designate VD Satheesan has directed top police officials to reduce his security convoy to a maximum of three vehicles, consisting only of his official car, one pilot vehicle, and one escort vehicle.
The CM-designate explicitly instructed law enforcement to ensure that public commuters are blocked or inconvenienced during his travels, marking a stark departure from previous VIP motorcades.
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Satheesan has directed that only a pilot and escort vehicle should accompany his official car, and people on the road should not be blocked while he travels. He also directed to slash down the security detail from the massive 10 to 14 vehicle motorcades used by previous administrations to just a single pilot and one mandatory escort vehicle.
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Police officials have been strictly ordered not to turn off traffic signals or enforce prolonged road closures for his transit.
He also refused the purchase of a new official vehicle, opting to use an existing fleet option like a standard white Innova Crysta to avoid placing an unnecessary financial burden on the state exchequer.
The move is intended to systematically dismantle the unapproachable “VIP culture” and project the image of a leader who is accessible to ordinary citizens.
The security arrangements for outgoing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have long been the reasons for political controversy and public outrage. The strict restrictions imposed in the capital city for him, who had Z+ security, had severely affected the travel of ordinary people. A large convoy of luxury vehicles, including a Kia Carnival, three Innova Crystas, an ambulance and a Stryker Force, escorted Pinarayi Vijayan.
It was customary for the Chief Minister’s commute from his residence to the Secretariat to involve closing main roads and deploying police at 100-metre intervals on the side roads. An advance pilot system was also deployed at the request of the Chief Minister’s office.
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