Goa Youth Congress urges Centre to restore SPG cover of Manmohan Singh, Gandhi family

The North Goa Youth Congress Committee on Thursday requested the Collector of the district to urge the Centre to immediately restore the SPG cover of the former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and members of the Gandhi family.

"We the members of the Goa Pradesh Youth Congress submit the present Memorandum and request you to send a report to the higher authorities i.e. the state as well as the central government that the government ought not have exposed the immediate members of the Gandhi family and former prime minister Manmohan Singh to a threat of a terrorist attack by arbitrary, capricious and malicious removal of SPG protection cover. That the same should be immediately restored and especially in the peculiar circumstances of Goa, it is necessary if any of the immediate members of Gandhi family or Manmohan Singh are to visit the state of Goa," the letter written to the Collector by the District Youth Congress Committee read.

Stating the reason behind the need for restoration of SPG cover, the letter added, "The state of Goa has been on the terrorist radar for quite a long period. That there is unknown number of Kashmiris present in Goa whose connections to the separatists are not known. A number of Sikh youths are seen in Goa wearing T-shirts in support of Bhindranwale or Khalistan."

The Youth Congress Committee in its letter also stated that two members of the Gandhi family, former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had been killed by the Khalistani and LTTE terrorists and it was due to this reason that the SPG cover was provided to the other members of the Gandhi family.

"Under the Special Protection Group Act, 1988 SPG protection is provided to the Prime Minister, former Prime Ministers and their immediate family members. There is nothing in the act that states that in order to receive protection to the immediate family members the said former Prime Minister should be alive," it added.

The SPG security cover given to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was withdrawn last week by the central government after a security review. Their security detail was replaced with 'Z plus' security cover of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).