Govt downgrades security cover for VVIPs

Others included in this group are Mulayam Singh Yadav, Ashwini Kumar (owner of Punjab Kesri group of newspapers) and the two who snapped ties with the Government: Buta Singh and Subramanian Swamy.

Swamy’s security has been reduced from Z to Y category. This means Swamy will have to do with a lone Personal Security Officer (PSO).

The others stripped of NSGsecurity will be provided with a non-bullet-proof car and an escort car carrying three junior police officials.

That the decision has political overtones is evident from the list of politicians who will continue to enjoy NSG cover. These include, beside senior BJP leaders L K Advani and M M Joshi, Farooq Abdullah, Mayawati, Jayalalitha, Jammu & Kashmir Governor (currently Gen K V Krishna Rao), Prakash Singh Badal and P K Mahanta.

Also untouched are Kalyan Singh, M S Bitta and Sajjan Kumar. For H K L Bhagat, Z+ category remains but the NSG will be replaced by Delhi Police officials.

But the move did not come in a day. It was the upshot of a marathon two-day meeting of the Ministry’s Protection Review Group (PRG) that the Special Secretary (internal security) Nikhil Kumar held with a number of officials.

Those who attended the brainstorming session included joint secretary (security), Vinay Kumar, deputy director in the Intelligence Bureau (IB), G.Azad and two senior Delhi police officials AdditionalCommissioner Ajay Aggarwal and DCP P Srivastava.

The PRG will now place the recommendations before Home Secretary B P Singh for his counter signature. Singh in turn will seek Advani’s approval which in any case, point out observers, will be given the moment it reaches him.It is, however, learnt that the PRG meeting did have its share of hiccups.

Dissent was expressed more than once and queries were put as to the “abrupt” manner of exclusion of certain individuals from the NSG cover.For instance, eyebrows were raised over denying NSG protection to Mulayam Singh Yadav but not to Mayawati, though both belong to Uttar Pradesh and face equal threat to their life. Similar is the case of P K Mahanta and Matang Singh, both from Assam.

In case of Mayawati, it is being argued that in the fast-changing political scenario the Government is willing to push the BSP but only till a point. The party, having 5 MPs, may still come handy in days to come.