With the withdrawal of SPG cover of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress has urged the government not to mix security with politics even as the BJP has denied such allegations.
The issue was raised in Rajya Sabha by Congress Deputy Leader Anand Sharma after Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu allowed him to speak on the issue after rejecting his notice to suspend business to discuss the issue.
The government had in August withdrawn the SPG cover of Singh and that of the Gandhis early this month after reviewing their threat perception.
Sharma said that they all have been vulnerable to threats. "Singh was Prime Minister for ten years. Besides being UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi is also daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was martyred. Her husband Rajiv Gandhi was also martyred," Sharma said.
He said the security was provided after clear evaluation about threat perception which makes them vulnerable. State has the responsibility to protect its leaders, he said.
Claiming that he does not want to politicise the issue, Sharma said, "When the UPA was in power for ten years, the security of former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee was not even disturbed. Security of other leaders were neither diluted or withdrawn. I urge the government that issues of personal safety and security should be beyond partisan considerations."
As Sharma urged the government to review the decision and restore SPG security, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad also said that security-related matter shouldn't be politicised.
BJP Working President and Rajya Sabha MP JP Nadda said there was "nothing political" in the decision taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). "The decision is not taken by a politician," he added.
Another BJP MP Subraminan Swamy, a known Gandhi family critic, said the MHA judged threat perception and suggested that the threat against the Gandhis have disappeared.
"The threat to them originally arose from the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by LTTE. Subsequently, that threat has disappeared. There is no LTTE. Sonia Gandhi and her children have also written for release of those behind Rajiv's assassination. Another issue is their attitude to the SPG personnel," he said.
Swamy's reference to attitude came following MHA sources earlier claiming that the Gandhis on several occasions had not kept the SPG in the loop about their travel plans.
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