Sonia, Advani: Security shuffle

New Delhi, March 5: Pranab Mukherjee meeting L.K. Advani on Tuesday had more to it than the Lahore terror attack: there is credible evidence of enhanced threat to the BJP leader and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during election campaigns.

Changes in their security set-up are being effected at every step of campaigning — from erecting platforms from where they will speak to installing CCTVs at every major election rally, sources said.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in Rawalpindi in December 2007 is fresh in many minds and, after the attack on the Lankan cricket team in Lahore, the Indian security establishment is working overtime.

Not only is there risk of an assassination attempt, there are also reports suggesting that terrorists may try to “kidnap” political leaders.

The most risky region is Uttar Pradesh where, according to intelligence reports today, “there has been no let-up in Lashkar-e-Toiba activity”.

Over the past two days, several meetings in the home ministry have taken up this top-priority issue. The SPG, which provides security to the Prime Minister, all former Prime Ministers and Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, has been consulted to chalk out strategies, sources said.

In the home ministry’s records, the threat perception is stated as high also for the “Prime Minister and Atal Bihari Vajpayee”.

“The Mumbai attack has proved that terrorists are much bolder and want to be demonstrative. The home ministry has written to all state directors-general of police to prepare for the highest security,” an intelligence source said.

Home minister P. Chidambaram stopped just short of the specifics when he told a television channel yesterday that terrorists might try “something dramatic” in the run-up to the elections.

Home secretary Madhukar Gupta yesterday wrote to all DGPs instructing state forces to be on the highest alert. The DGPs have been told to write to all political parties about the precautions they should take for their leaders. A list of dos and don’ts has also been sent which the state police will have to follow to the last letter.

The DGPs have been told that all “big leaders” were under threat along with the “general public in big rallies”.

All trains, particularly the Rajdhani Express, passing through Uttar Pradesh are terror targets.

Sources said the security forces believed that if terrorists failed to harm top leaders, they might try targeting others like Lalu Prasad, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Digvijay Singh or Arun Jaitley.