Special Protection Group confused over Narendra Modi wife cover

NEW DELHI: The elite Special Protection Group, tasked with the job of protecting the Prime Minister, former PMs and their immediate family members is on the horns of a dilemma.

For, it has to take a call on whether SPG cover will need to be provided to the wife of BJP leader Narendra Modi if he’s elected PM.

Mr Modi has been separated from his wife Jashodabehn Chimanlal for several decades had she lives in Gujarat. The BJP leader recently acknowledged the 62-year-old as his spouse in the affidavit he filed with the EC.

The SPG is also debating whether it will need to provide security to Mr Modi’s aged mother Hirabehn who lives in a separate house in Gandhinagar, Gujarat’s capital. Jashodabehn, who was earlier living in a one-room 100-square-foot tenement in the Panchalvas area, now lives with her brother.

Sources said it while it is mandatory for the SPG to provide security cover to a PM’s spouse, the fact that she has been living separately for years has led to the confusion about her protection. The SPG is reportedly in touch with the local intelligence units of Gujarat police to ascertain the details about the living conditions of the two women.