With the upcoming elections in 2019, the threat to the national political leaders is at stake. Much has been speculated by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the security issues and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been assigned a Special Protection Group (SPG). The SPG will be monitoring and permitting every person who will be meeting PM Modi including the Ministers and officers who will only be allowed to contact him once the group approves.
Almost any election requires a certain degree of field campaigning. The 2014 success of BJP in the Lok Sabha polls owed much to the road campaigns and public addresses made by Mr. Modi. The SGP has advised the Prime Minister to cut down on road shows as it entails with itself a much bigger risk. In the 2019 elections, it has been suggested that he must stick to public rallies to minimize the threat of being attacked.
A few weeks ago, the news of Maoists planning to murder the PM surfaced. This was much similar to what had happened with Rajiv Gandhi. The Pune police had earlier tipped the information of such a plan.
“The threat always has been there but after the Naxal threat we have made each agency aware of the new threats to the prime minister,” said a senior officer. This claim was taken even more seriously as in a campaign in the West Bengal had a man breaking through 6 layers of security to reach the Prime Minister to touch his feet.
These two developments had led Rajnath Singh to hold a meeting with the National security Adviser, Ajit Doval. Along with the Union Home Secretary, Rajiv Gauba, and Director Intelligence Bureau, it was decided that necessary steps must be undertaken to decrease the threat to Prime Minster’s life. Ti has been officially considered that states like Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal were termed as ‘sensitive’ by the Home Ministry. Security agencies are believed to be especially monitoring the Kerela- based Popular Front of India (PFI), an outfit that the government believes is a front for radical groups.
“We can’t give him instructions but we have requested him to be little careful regarding his public engagements,” says the officer.
This may be a tough call in the run-up to 2019 as PM Modi is expected to address several rallies.