This Article is From Nov 01, 2013

For Narendra Modi's return to Patna, major security upgrade

For Narendra Modi's return to Patna, major security upgrade
New Delhi: Narendra Modi has not been given Special Protection Group or SPG cover by the Centre, but the BJP's prime ministerial candidate will now get special security similar to the kind given to the Prime Minister and some other VIPs.

After the serial blasts in Patna last weekend just before Mr Modi's 'Hunkar rally', the Union Home Ministry has decided to provide the Advance Security Liaison (ASL) facility to the Gujarat chief minister.

Under this, a detailed minute-to-minute security cover detail of Mr Modi's visit to any state will be prepared by the local police. The procedure is much the same as followed for those who receive SPG cover like the PM, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul.

The difference is that a detailed written itinerary of the PM is given to all authorities concerned and the SPG sanitises all his venues.

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had said earlier this week, "Narendra Modi has been given sufficient security. He does not need the Special Protection Group (SPG)."

Mr Modi will be in Patna again this evening. He plans to meet relatives of the six people who were killed in Sunday's blasts. The Congress had criticised him and other BJP leaders for not talking about the blast victims on the day of his rally.

His security has become a boldface controversy with the BJP accusing Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for "gross criminal negligence" for the Patna blasts and alleging that even basic security arrangements for Mr Modi's rally were deliberately overlooked. Nitish Kumar has denied that there were security lapses on part of his administration. (No intel warning, no security lapses: Nitish Kumar on Patna blasts)

On Wednesday, Gujarat's Director General of Police accused the Bihar Police of "indifference and laxity" and said the serial blasts could have been averted if adequate security had been ensured. (War of words between Bihar, Gujarat top cops over Narendra Modi's security)

The Bihar police have argued that they had ensured Mr Modi's safety and that the seven blasts that ripped through the city happened before he arrived to address his rally.
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