Congress youth wing protests withdrawal of SPG cover of Gandhis

Hundreds of Congress youth-wing members on Wednesday descended on the streets in central Delhi and burnt an effigy of Home Minister Amit Shah to protest the withdrawal of SPG security cover of party president Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka. The protesters had given a call to gherao Parliament but police barricaded the approach roads. Police officials shut the gates of Shastri Bhawan, Krishi Bhawan and the Central Secretariat Metro Station and kept a water cannon on standby in case the situation turned hostile.

The protesters raised anti-BJP and anti-government slogans and caned the effigies they carried. Demanding that the Gandhis be accorded SPG cover, the protesters said the government will be held responsible if anything untoward happened to them.

IYC president Srinivas B V, who led the protest, alleged that the BJP had "descended to the ultimate personal vendetta mechanism, compromising the lives of family members of two former prime ministers to acts of terror and violence". Police officials, carrying teargas ammunition, announced through loudspeakers that Section 144 had been imposed in the area near Shastri Bhawan in view of the ongoing winter session of Parliament and strict action would be taken against the protesters.

The warning didn't deter the protesters who climbed the barricades to breach the security cordon. Police detained a number of protesters who broke through the barricades and took them to the Mandir Marg police station. IYC members alleged that police beat up and manhandled the protesters but officials denied the charge.

The Centre earlier this month replaced the Special Protection Group (SPG) cover of the family of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, assassinated by LTTE terrorists on May 21, 1991, with the 'Z-plus' security of the Central Reserve Police Force. The Gandhis are now without SPG protection after 28 years. They were included in the VVIP security list following an amendment in September 1991 in the SPG Act of 1988.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)