‘How can I do the yatra in a bulletproof vehicle?’: Rahul Gandhi reacts to protocol violation charge

Gandhi’s comments came days after sources in the CRPF while responding to the Congress’s allegations on his security, said that it had made complete security arrangements for the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s Delhi leg and that Gandhi himself had violated protocol 113 times over the last two years.

“I am undertaking a Bharat Jodo Yatra. The government wants me to do the yatra in a bulletproof vehicle. They are saying there is a protocol…don’t hassle us…you sit on a bulletproof vehicle and do the yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Now that is not acceptable to me. You tell me how I can do the yatra sitting in a bulletproof vehicle,” he said addressing a press conference here.

He argued that when senior BJP leaders “come out of bulletproof vehicles…no letter is sent to them.”

“Their leaders have done road shows, travelled in open jeeps…that is against their own protocol and they are writing to me saying you have got out of a bulletproof vehicle. So, the protocol is different for them and me. All the CRPF people, senior officers, know what they should do to ensure my security. How can I do the yatra in a bulletproof vehicle? We have to walk in the Bharat Jodo Yatra…so perhaps they are making a case that Rahul Gandhi is repeatedly breaking the security….,” he said.