‘Prime Time Minister’ and ‘#Photoshootsarkar trend on Twitter as details tumble out of PM’s Corbett break

Unable to deny that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was participating in a photo shoot for a Discovery Channel documentary hours after the Pulwama Terror attack, the Government’s alibi that the PM was there on a ‘review meeting’ and that he could not be contacted and informed about the terror attack because of poor connectivity have invited more ridicule.

Local newspaper reports have detailed that the Prime Minister landed at St Mary’s college ground in Bijnore in a helicopter shortly after Noon. He was then driven to Ramganga dam along with the Discovery team. From there the crew and the PM took a half-an hour boat ride to reach Corbett national park.

The PM’s photo shoot continued till well past 5 pm, long after the Pulwama terror strike at around 3.15 pm. The PM also addressed a rally over phone and reached a PWD guesthouse at around 6 pm. After a 40-minute break, during which he met officials for ten minutes, the PM’s convoy left for Bareilly at 6.40 pm.

Three things have been established. One that PM Modi continued shooting a PR film even after #PulwamaAttack. Two, the NSA and the PMO delayed in informing the PM about the attack and, finally, as per the Government’s own admission the PM couldn't be reached due to bad weather after a terror attack. All three explanations are clearly worrying from the point of view of India's national security.

While details of the documentary are still not available, officials confirmed that Discovery Channel was given permission to shoot in the Corbett National Park for 10 days between February 8 and February 18.

In a stinging attack, the Congress described Prime Minister Narendra Modi shooting for a film on February 14 as an act of "self propagation" ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

While Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s motives for continuing with the photoshoot, former Union minister Manish Tewari on Friday asked, “At 5:10 pm Narendra Modi addresses a rally over mobile phone. He does not mention a word about the Pulwama terror attack. We want to rephrase the question- what was PM Modi doing between 3:10 pm and 5:10 pm?”

According to an Uttarakhand official , who spoke on condition of anonymity, here is the timeline of what Prime Minister Narendra Modi did on February 14, when Pulwama terror attack took place, as reported by The Telegraph.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Corbett

Around 2.30 PM: Pm Modi arrives at Dhikala (a part of Jim Corbett National Park) in a motorboat.

3.10 PM: Pulwama takes place. If the Government is to be believed, the PM remained blissfully unaware till well after 5 pm.

2.30 PM to 4.30 PM: PM Modi enters Jim Corbett National Park

The Prime Minister writes in visitors book in Gujarati: “It is the responsibility of humans to protect, preserve and promote nature…”

PM Modi reaches Old FRH rest house in the park and has lunch

Modi goes on a brief jungle safari

Prime Minister takes the picture of a black deer on his mobile phone.

PM reaches Khinanauli Guest House of the park where filming takes place