press trust of india
New Delhi, August 8: The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day Tuesday amid a war of words between the Congress and the government over the stone-pelting on Rahul Gandhi, with the former alleging that the attack had put his life at risk and the Home Minister wondering why the Congress vice president went abroad without his SPG cover.
Responding to Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s allegation that last week’s stone pelting incident in Gujarat could have killed Rahul, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the Congress vice president has violated the security protocol on several occasions in India and abroad. Rahul and party President Sonia Gandhi were not present in the House.
Countering the Congress charges, the Home Minister said in the past two years, Rahul had carried out 121 planned and unplanned tours. He did not use the bullet proof car on 100 occasions. The offices of the Congress president and Rahul Gandhi were informed of the violations.
Rahul went on foreign tours and informed the SPG at the eleventh hour, creating problems for it to provide proper security, the minister said while responding to the issue raised by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge. In the last two years, Rahul has been out on six foreign visits for 72 days. He did not take along his SPG cover on these occasions, Singh told the Lok Sabha.
“Where did he go? He deliberately did not move with the SPG cover. It is violative of the SPG Act enacted by Parliament,” he said, alleging he has neglected his own security. The SPG was constituted and trained specially to provide protection to then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in view of the threats to him.
