Decision to provide security cover to VIPs rests with home ministry: M J Akbar

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M.J. Akbar on Saturday said to withdraw or extend security cover to high-profile personalities like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is decided by the Home Ministry based on threat perception.

Commenting on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra seeking withdrawal of all the special airport exemptions offered to her and her family, Akbar said, "We know, according to the threat perception, it is the home ministry which sets the norms. There are situations when your security level increases and decreases. It is the officials of the home ministry who will determine how much security she would require, and based on that, it will be implemented. Whether she writes a letter or not on this,is entirely a different thing."

On Friday, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had written a letter to the Special Protection Group (SPG) Director Durga Prasad Kode, that her family does not need any special security driven privileges at airports. She asked the SPG to allow her and her children to go through normal channels along with her husband when they travel together.

She had asked this following the new Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju mulling a possible review of security exemptions provided to Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.