The elite Special Protection Group, tasked to protecting the Prime Minister, former prime ministers and their families, has got embroiled in a political controversy after Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the SPG chief appointed by Narendra Modi had to quit because he refused to accept a list of SPG officers handpicked by the RSS. The comments, made during a press interaction in New Delhi on Saturday, drew attention from the highest levels in the government, which then asked the Union home ministry to clarify about the issue.
On Monday, the home ministry issued an official statement saying it has got the matter verified. "The comment reportedly made by Mr Gandhi through the media is baseless, devoid of fact and unfortunate, coming from an SPG protectee," it said.
Among the most high profile protectees of the SPG are Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka. Clarifying the matter, the MHA said the officer in question, Vivek Srivastava, former Director, Special Protection Group (SPG), has specifically averred that he did not have any such conversation with Rahul Gandhi at any point of time. "The officer has stated that as part of his professional duties he interacted with SPG protectees; however, he has categorically stated that during his interaction with Gandhi, there was no talk whatsoever regarding the appointment of a new director, or the reasons for his leaving SPG," said the statement.
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The MHA's move to clarify the matter that had been reported in some sections of the media is unusual given the fact that the ministry does not elaborate on issues concerning organisations like the SPG which have critical responsibilities, like guarding the prime minister, and demand an element of secrecy about them.
However, the MHA went on to say that the matter raised by the SPG protectee was unfortunate since the "SPG is a professional organisation which takes its task of protecting serving prime ministers, former prime ministers and their families entrusted to its security, very seriously and in the highest professional spirit".
Incidentally, this is the second time the SPG is facing controversy during the NDA tenure. Soon after the NDA government came to power in 2014, then SPG chief K. Durga Prasad was removed in November while he was still in Kathmandu in the middle of Modi's SAARC visit. Though his term was over on November 2, he was continuing to hold the charge till a successor was appointed. However, the midnight orders issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on November 25 had left the media guessing on the sudden decision.
A fortnight after Prasad was removed, 1989 batch Gujarat cadre officer Vivek Srivastava was handpicked for the job. However, his tenure did not last a full two-term and he was replaced within 15 months by incumbent SPG chief Arun Kumar Sinha, a 1987 batch IPS officer of Kerala cadre in March 2016.
