New Delhi, Dec. 27 :    New Delhi, Dec. 27:  A security blanket has been thrown over the Prime Minister's holiday in Kerala following new instructions for the Special Protection Group in the wake of the Lashkar threat to target the Prime Minister's Office and the assault on the Red Fort. Police in Kerala, the land of coconuts, are also acting under changed instructions from the SPG. One of the first casualties of the security overkill at the Taj Garden retreat in Kumarakom, where Atal Bihari Vajpayee is vacationing, was the traditional welcome with elephants. The pachyderms were marched off after an SPG official barked 'hathi has no business in a reception'. Theyyam performers from north Kerala, who had come to perform before Vajpayee, were also shown the door because the SPG found their headdress and use of weapons and lighted torches 'too risky'. But hotel authorities were allowed to welcome Vajpayee with the traditional arati. There was also panic at the helipad yesterday in Kottayam, where Vajpayee landed on his way to Kumarakom, after officials noticed that his foster granddaughter Niharika had not boarded the correct vehicle. She was later traced by the SPG in an escort car. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) - which advises the SPG on Vajpayee's security - had recently thought of re-assesssing the set-up after the Navy House raid, which later turned out to be a fiasco. There was also talk of reviewing the nature and content of the Z-plus security given to Vajpayee. But the subject was reopened after last Friday's raid at Red Fort and the subsequent threat reportedly by the Lashkar headquarters from Pakistan that the PMO could be its next target. If the police and the army version is believed to be true, the surprise assault only shows how vulnerable bigwigs in Delhi really are. For the time being, a spot decision has been taken to increase the strength of local personnel wherever the Prime Minister is travelling. No doubt, Kerala Police have had to post more men than they would usually have in Kottayam and Kumarakom. In Delhi, policemen have been asked to mount additional vigil close to Race Course Road and at North and South Block. Sources said the SPG might also take the IB's help to do a thorough review of Z-plus security once Vajpayee returns. The review will most probably take place after he leaves for his trip to Southeast Asia in early January. According to sources, Vajpayee, on his birthday two days ago, had announced late in the afternoon that he would go for a quiet Chinese dinner at the Taj Mansingh hotel with his family and a few select friends. Delhi police was immediately informed and the number of personnel deployed to guard the joint was much more than usual. 'It is a new drill, a new requirement that is being done because the SPG wants it that way,' Delhi police sources said. No wonder, lensmen in Kottayam were rudely rebuffed when they wanted to photograph Vajpayee yesterday. But if the tight security threw a damper on several entertainment programmes, rain also played spoilsport as a steady drizzle since morning doused the holiday spirit. However, Vajpayee - who today scotched speculation about possible mid-term polls in the near future as 'baseless and misleading' and said attempts by the Opposition to divide the NDA will not succeed - went for a stroll along the banks of the Vembanad lake this morning. He was advised against a boat ride on the lake.