The Congress Party has alleged that after the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) took control over the security of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the general secretary of the party, some unknown people entered her residence in a vehicle last month without prior appointment and even sought selfies with Vadra.
A complaint was filed about the security breach and the CRPF has begun an inquiry, Congress Party sources said on Monday.
The protection of Sonia Gandhi and her family had been the responsibility of the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) for the last three decades following the assassination of her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 21 May 1991 while visiting the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was visiting a poll constituency as the Congress leader and former prime minister.
After the scale down, National Security Guards (NSG) drawn from the CRPF are responsible for Sonia Gandhi’s security as well as that of her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and son Rahul Gandhi.
India’s federal government has decided that the elite SPG will only be responsible for the prime minister and his/her immediate family.
Congress has accused the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of pursuing what it described as “the ultimate personal vendetta mechanism”.
It has maintained that the decision smacks of political revenge, jeopardising the lives of a family that has given India three former prime ministers – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi.