Those who get SPG cover “think like that they are the prime minister”, BJP MP Neeraj Shekhar, who himself was a SPG protectee for 11 years being the son of the former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, said in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Immediate family members of former prime ministers travel in a cavalcade of bullet proof cars, escorted by police bypassing all security checks and barriers and even mandatory frisking at airports, said Mr Shekhar while narrating his experience in the Upper House during the debate on the SPG (Amendment) Bill.
“Those people who live under SPG cover, they think that they are the prime minister of this country and are privileged persons,” said Mr Shekhar, supporting the Bill and stressed that the BJP wants to finish “this VIP culture”.
He cautioned the House that the young people of the nation do not like this VIP culture.
“When it was amended in 1991, I also got security (SPG), which was not required. But I liked it as I was a young man of 22 years age and a security guard used to shadow me. Whenever I would go to airport, my car would go up to the plane and there was a bullet proof car, wherever I use to visit,” he said, adding that although no one recognised him, he used to travel with a fleet of four cars.
Mr Shekhar, who was giving his maiden speech in the Upper House, added: “Although I was nothing but despite that people use to come to take my autograph… the SPG protection gave me a feeling that I was some important person”.
“I used to be surprised to see senior citizens standing in queues at airports and I never went for any security check. One security guard armed with pistol used to escort me to the plane,” he said.
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