The Centre on Wednesday accorded Z+ security cover to BJP general secretary Amit Shah even as the Government decided to review the security of about 150 other VIPs after the Budget Session. The 150 include those who were provided security by the previous UPA regime and it is likely that the list of protectees would be pruned.
A contingent of 36 CRPF commandos will provide cover to Shah. With his inclusion in the list of protectees, the CRPF now has 40 VIPs in its kitty. Z + category is the highest level of security next only to the cover given by the elite Special Protection Group (SPG) to serving and former Prime Ministers and their immediate family members.
Shah, a close associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be guarded by CRPF commandos round the clock and armed guards will be posted at his residence. Shah, who was instrumental in securing a landslide victory in the Parliamentary polls in Uttar Pradesh, will enjoy the high level of security across the country wherever he travels.
A meeting, chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday to review the security of VIPs, deferred the decision “for through review”. MHA officials said they had used their political clout to get cover. Except the SPG cover, all the other agencies providing security will come under the purview of the MHA.
Those who were given either Y, Z or Z-plus security during the tenure of Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde include former Union Ministers Sachin Pilot, Manish Tewari and Beni Prasad Verma, BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra and former Congress MP Naveen Jindal.
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief PS Bajwa, party’s lok Sabha candidate from Allahabad, Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’, Congress legislature Party chief in UP, Pradeep Mathur, journalist Anirudh Bahal and former Union Minister Matang Sinh are few others who were given security during the UPA regime. Two BJP leaders —Shahnawaz Hussain and Rajiv Pratap Rudy — and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani were accorded ‘Z’ category security during Shinde’s tenure.
A ‘Z-plus’ category protectee is entitled to security with a total of 25 commandos, a ‘Z’ category protectee gets a cover of 11 security personnel while a ‘Y’ category VIP gets security of two armed commandos.