Government withdraws SPG protection for Gandhis

Friday,08 November 2019 12:16 PM IST

New Delhi: The government has removed Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka's Special Protection Group (SPG) cover, and the CRPF will now provide them Z-plus protection, officials said Friday. A Govt source said that on 50 occasions Sonia Gandhi did not use the bullet-resistant SPG vehicle while traveling in Delhi during 2015-19. Rahul Gandhi has also been flying since 2015 on 1892 occasions in a non-bullet-resistant car. He has also not taken the SPG along on 143 visits since 1991.

The Gandhis will be without SPG protection after 28 years. They were included in the VVIP security list following an amendment in September 1991 in the SPG Act of 1988. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will now be the only person being protected by the elite SPG commandos.