Bhagwant Mann game for Paris trip, only if Modi allows

Jyoti Malhotra
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 1
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is hoping he can fly to Paris in a day or so to encourage and root for the Indian hockey team — a large part of which are players from Punjab — that will play its first quarterfinal match in the ongoing Olympics on August 4.
The catch is that the Chief Minister is still waiting for political clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi, an essential prerequisite for travel by top-level political leaders.
In an exclusive conversation with The Tribune today, Mann said he wanted to fly to Paris on the night of August 3, so that he could reach in time to watch the Indian hockey team play the following day.
“I want to encourage and cheer for the team. As many as 10 out of the 19 hockey players are from Punjab. I am so proud of my boys and I know that my presence will be proof of that,” he told this reporter.
“I have a red-coloured diplomatic passport,” Mann added, referring to the document that it is an automatic entitlement for senior political leaders, which guarantees them a visa for any country in the world.
“This means that I can get a French visa in record time. But my officials have been waiting at the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi for political clearance for many hours now. Two days are left for my proposed flight and it still hasn’t come through,” he added.