The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Thursday sought to blame Rahul Gandhi for the alleged breach of his security during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Delhi, claiming the MP had himself violated security protocol.
A senior officer of the paramilitary force, which reports to the Union home ministry, told The Telegraph that Rahul — a Z-plus protectee of the CRPF — was a habitual violator of security guidelines and had done so after the Yatra arrived in Delhi on Saturday.
The officer, who declined to be identified, did not specify which protocols Rahul had violated on Saturday or how. But he claimed that Rahul had breached security guidelines more than a hundred times since 2020 despite the violations being taken up with him on several occasions.
The officer’s allegation comes a day after Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah alleging security breaches during the Delhi leg of the Yatra.
Venugopal wrote that Delhi police had failed to secure Rahul’s perimeter — allowing crowds to come close to him — unlike their counterparts in other states that the walkathon had passed through. Like the CRPF, the Delhi police report to the Union home ministry.
The senior CRPF official did not comment on Venugopal’s allegations but told this newspaper that “security arrangements had been made for Rahul Gandhi fully as per the guidelines” on December 24.
He added that the Delhi police had said they had made sufficient deployment of personnel.
The official said an advance security liaison — a meeting of security agencies to plan a VIP’s security for a major event — for the December 24 event had been held two days earlier. He said security violations by Rahul had been observed and communicated to him many times in the wpast.
“For instance, since 2020 there have been 113 violations observed and duly communicated. During the Delhi leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the protectee violated security guidelines and the CRPF will be taking up this matter (with him) separately,” the official said.
He added that security arrangements made for protectees worked only if the protectees themselves adhered to the laid-down guidelines.
Venugopal’s letter to Shah had said: “The security was compromised on multiple occasions. The Delhi police completely failed in controlling the surging crowd and maintaining a perimeter around Rahul Gandhi who is assigned Z-plus security.’
Venugopal wrote that the situation had turned so severe that Congress workers and the Bharat Yatris walking along with Rahul had to form the perimeter while the Delhi police remained spectators.