Rajeev Shukla asks Centre to reconsider Gandhis' SPG cover witdhrawal

After it was announced on Friday that the Gandhi family might lose SPG security as a part of security rejig, former IPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla asked the Government to reconsider their decision. The Special Protection Group (SPG) cover will be given only to the serving Prime Minister and the President. Till now, apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the SPG cover was given to Sonia Gandhi and her children Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Following the removal of SPG cover, the Gandhi family will now be given Z+ security. 

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Rajeev Shukla expresses displeasure

Rajeev Shukla on Friday took to Twitter to express his displeasure and concern over the removal of SPG cover given to the Gandhi family. Shukla in his tweet urged the government to reconsider its decision and also said that former Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi was assassinated after his SPG cover was withdrawn.

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Earlier, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel also criticised the centre and alleged that BJP has descended to the "ultimate personal vendetta" mechanism.

What is SPG cover?

The SPG has over 3,000 personnel. Based on threat perception, the special group covers Prime Ministers as well as former Prime Ministers and their families. The SPG was set up in 1985 specifically for the security of Prime Ministers after the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her security guards a year before. After the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, the SPG Act was amended to provide security to former PMs and their families for 10 years. In 2003, the Vajpayee government amended the law again to bring down the automatic protection for 10 years to one year - or more depending on the level of threat as decided by the Centre. Earlier, the daughter of Manmohan Singh, as well as Atal Bihari Vajpayee's foster daughter, had given up the SPG cover provided to them. While former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had SPG cover till he passed away in 2018, former Prime Ministers HD Deve Gowda's and VP Singh's security was revoked.

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