Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) one of the closest allies of Congress described a planned move by the center to alter the terms of the special protection group (SPG) cover extended to members of the Gandhi family as an “infringement on their privacy” and an attempt to “keep surveillance on them”.
However, it is not clear what is the nature of alteration given to the security of the Gandhi’s. According to some sources, Gandhi’s were told their foreign visits will be restricted if Gandhi’s do not comply with the new SPG norms. There is also information that the security will be withdrawn if SPG norms are not followed by the Gandhi family. A third version, given by a senior officer of the Union home ministry, suggested that a government review of the Gandhis’ security cover had recommended removal of SPG protection and giving the duty to either the National Security Guard or the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
The current situation indicates that the reviewed threat perception for the Gandhi trio(Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, and Priyanka) had declined and their security can be handled by other forces,” the senior officer said, adding that no new threats were found in the assessment.
“Gandhi family had received no official communication on the matter”, said Congress spokesperson Pranav Jha.
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