Ministry of Home Affairs questions Priyanka Gandhi’s move
Security does not depend on whims and fancies of any individual: Kiren Rijiju
New Delhi: Days after Priyanka Gandhi had asked the SPG to withdraw exemptions given to her family from security checks at airports, Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju on Monday questioned the timing of her move and said security does not depend on “someone’s whims and fancies”.
“One should not politicise security issues. I have failed to understand why someone is trying to score a political brownie point. Security does not depend on whims and fancies of any individual,” he said without naming Priyanka.
He was responding to a question on Priyanka’s letter to SPG chief where she had asked the security force to withdraw the exemption given to her and her family from normal security checks at airports.
Her letter comes in the wake of reports that government is considering cancellation of such a facility to her husband Robert Vadra.
“It is better to leave to the security agencies to take a decision,”Mr Rijiju said.
Security sources indicated that status quo will be maintained in Priyanka’s security cover, as she enjoys SPG cover while a decision on Mr Vadra’s security exemption at airports will be taken by the appropriate authorities after a detailed review.
In a letter to the SPG chief Durga Prasad last week, Priyanka referring to media reports of possible removal of her husband’s name from the list of security protectees exempted from security checks at airports said she would appreciate if it is done at the earliest.
Priyanka said that the inclusion of her husband’s name in the list was made at the instance of previous SPG chiefs and Delhi police.”
“It is only right for us to go through the normal channel at airports and be frisked. As per normal procedure at such times as you will appreciate that it makes no sense for a family travelling together to fall under different categories of exemption,” Priyanka had said in her letter.
Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said that “we don’t feel it can be a political gimmick.” “We advice them that they have been given the mandate to rule the country and not for having political vendettas,” Mr Surjeewala added.