File picture of chief minister Tarun Gogoi flanked by deputy commissioners (both in white galabandhs) of the two districts at the Independence Day parade last year. Picture by Eastern Projections

Jan. 25: The Republic Day function at Judges Field tomorrow will be different from the earlier ones.

Instead of the customary one deputy commissioner and one superintendent of police escorting governor Lt Gen. (retd) Ajai Singh to the dais for hoisting the Tricolour, there will be two of each of them. The twin deputy commissioners and superintendents of police of Kamrup and Kamrup (metropolitan) will also line up behind the governor when he takes the salute at the ceremonial parade.

Sources said Dispur wanted this “departure from convention”, first witnessed during the Independence Day last year, become a “practice”.

The presence of the four top officials on the dais in the last year’s Independence Day function was a subject of animated discussion about protocol as the official invitation for the function was extended by deputy commissioner, Kamrup (metropolitan).

Deputy commissioners and superintendents of police of Kamrup (rural) and Kamrup (metropolitan) escorted chief minister Tarun Gogoi to the dais for hoisting the Tricolour and then lined up behind him when he took the salute during the marchpast on August 15.

Though the jurisdiction of the Kamrup (rural) district excluded areas under Kamrup (metropolitan), the office of its deputy commissioner is located in the city. Kamrup district was bifurcated last year amid stiff opposition from various organisations, which said it would lead to administrative inconvenience. Sameer Sinha was named DC of Kamrup (rural) while P.C. Bordoloi took over as SP. A 10-hour district bandh called by the Opposition AGP on December 28 last year evoked spontaneous and almost total response.

Interestingly, both Kamrup (rural) DC Sameer Kumar Sinha and Kamrup (metropolitan) DC A.K. Absar Hazarika wore almost identical galabandhs to celebrate last year’s Independence Day by the side of the chief minister.

Though few bureaucrats even went to the extent of describing the break from tradition as a violation of protocol defined in the blue book, the then general administration department principal-secretary P.P. Verma defended the decision. He had said there was no hard and fast rule about the jurisdiction and designation of the officials entrusted with the responsibility of escorting VIPs to the dais during official functions.

Sinha was made the returning officer for the recent elections to Gauhati Municipal Corporation (GMC) despite the corporation areas falling within the territory of Kamrup (metropolitan). Pointing this out, the Kamrup DC had submitted before the state government that he, as well as SP, Kamrup, had the right to escort the governor to the dais tomorrow.