CHANDIGARH:The Punjab Government has decided to withdraw the state police security from Congress MP Pratap Singh Bajwa after an assessment showed that he had virtually no threat perception and was, in any case, now getting the central security directly accorded to him by the Union Home Ministry.
Disclosing this, an official spokesperson said that the state police security provided to Bajwa had become redundant since he had procured personal security directly from Home Minister Amit Shah. A mixed security component was, in any case, not considered good, particularly when the Rajya Sabha MP had, by opting for central security, showed that he had no faith in the state police.
According to the spokesperson, contrary to claims made by Bajwa, the central security he had got was not at the behest of the Congress leadership. In fact, the Union Home Ministry had not even consulted the state government to gauge the threat perception, which is usually done before providing central security to any person.
Bajwa, as Rajya Sabha MP, may have simply approached the party’s leader in the House, Ghulam Nabi Azad, to seek central security, and as is the norm, the latter could have simply sent his request to the Union Home Ministry. However, for some reason, the Home Ministry chose not to discuss the matter of Bajwa’s threat perception with the state government in this case, which was a clear deviation from the norm followed in such cases, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson further said that Bajwa has actually been getting enhanced security from Punjab Police all this time, way beyond what he was entitled to as Rajya Sabha MP. This was because the state government decided not to withdraw the greater security he had at his disposal as president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC). Ideally, the enhanced security should have been pulled out as soon as he became MP, with virtually zero threat perception.
Bajwa was given Z Category security cover by the MHA on March 19 and as of date has 25 CISF personnel for personal security, house protection and escort, besides 2 escort drivers. Till March 23, he also had 14 PP personnel deployed with him but a few for withdrawn for Covid duties. He currently has 6 PP personnel and an escort with driver, which are now being withdrawn, said the spokesperson.