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Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 11
The government today denied security threat to Congress president Rahul Gandhi after a letter, purportedly written by three party leaders to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh flagging lapses, appeared on various social media platforms.
“The Congress has not written any letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh in this respect,” Congress media head Randeep Surjewala said. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi also denied having formally written to the government on the issue, but said, “Rahul Gandhi is an SPG protectee and his security is the responsibility of the Special Protection Group (SPG).”
The Ministry of Home Affairs said, “We’ve not received any letter regarding alleged breach in the security of Congress president Rahul Gandhi. As soon as MHA’s attention was drawn to reports of the incident of ‘green light’ being pointed at him yesterday in Amethi, the Director (SPG) was asked to verify the factual position. Director SPG informed the MHA that the green light shown in the clipping was found to be that of a mobile phone used by AICC photographer who was videographing the impromptu press interaction of Rahul Gandhi near the collectorate in Amethi.”
The letter in question signed by Congress veterans Ahmed Patel and Jairam Ramesh and also Surjewala cited the past assassinations of family members of Rahul Gandhi – his grandmother and late PM Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi – to call the threat to Rahul’s life “unacceptable”.
The letter mentioned “green light from a sniper gun” being pointed at Rahul Gandhi after he filed his nomination papers in Amethi yesterday and then made a media statement. The government has denied any threat to Rahul Gandhi’s life saying the light was from a camera.
DisMissed as ‘phone light’
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