Law minister S Suresh Kumar walks up without fanfare to the CM's house, only to be ridiculed and denied entry A POLICE constable on duty at the chief minister's residence refused to let law minister S Suresh Kumar pass, as he could not recognise him. 
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High security zone: The chief minister's house is manned by guards who kept a strict vigil on visitors</td></tr></tbody></table> Kumar had simply walked over to B S Yeddyurappa's house from his residence near Golf Course, accompanied only by his gunman, after the CM had called a ministers' meeting. "I like to take a walk whenever I can. The chief minister's residence is walking distance, and I saw no reason to take the car. Moreover, it is a pleasure to walk across the Golf Course in the evening," said Kumar. However, he wasn't prepared for what happened next. The guard posted outside the CM's residence stopped him. 
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<td><img alt="" src="/imagedata/2009/aug/minister2.jpg" border="0" /></td></tr></tbody></table>"Normally, I don't introduce myself as a minister," recalled an amused Kumar. "However, I pleaded with him to let me in, but he did not oblige." When the gunman intervened and told the guard that Kumar was a minister, the constable replied that many came there with the same claim. "Maybe his simplicity was the problem," said a source close to the minister. "He did not look like a minister to the constable, and he was embarrassed." 'I'm not famous' Kumar wasn't bothered about the incident. "This shows that I am not famous," he quipped when asked about it. He said he did not feel bad, as the constable was only doing his duty. "However, security staff should know whom to let in and whom not to. Otherwise, security will become a farce and people will suffer," he said. u00a0 The drama was reaching a high pitch when a sub-inspector recognised the minister and came running from inside the compound, offering his apologies. The situation cooled down when the minister said he had forgiven the constable. High Grounds sub-inspector Lakshmidevi, posted at CM's residence said, "Normally, only people who can recognise important people are put on such duties. If we come to know a person is ignorant, we replace him." Sources said the erring constable was called back to the station and posted as a sentry in punishment. Others too u00a0 Suresh Kumar is hardly the only politician to face such embarrassment at the hands of security staff. When the assembly session was going on last month, several MLAs were denied entry to the Vidhana Soudha because security personnel did not recognise them. Suresh Babu, at 26, the youngest MLA in the state, was stopped at the entrance because he was clad in jeans. u00a0 "My boyish looks might have misled them. They let me in only after my uncle Sriramulu (health minister) told them I was an MLA." M P Kumaraswamy, MLA representing Mudigere, was denied entry because he was dressed so simply that the security could not believe he was an MLA. A former chief minister had to intervene to get entry for the JD(S) MLA. "MLAs are given smart cards, and it's better they carry them to avoid confusion," said a an officer in the secretariat. "One cannot blame the security staff because they are only doing their duty."

Law minister S Suresh Kumar walks up without fanfare to the CM's house, only to be ridiculed and denied entry

Minister, eh? Tell me another

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