The BJP’s Amritsar Lok Sabha seat candidate and former diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu has been provided VIP security cover by the central government, official sources said on Wednesday.
The 61-year-old former Indian ambassador to the US has been granted the mid-category ‘Y plus’ cover. The CRPF’s VIP security wing has been entrusted with the task, sources said.
A contingent of about 10-12 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) armed commandos are being deployed for the task, they said.
Sandhu will have this protection during his travels across the country. A report prepared by central intelligence agencies on possible threats to the BJP leader necessitated this security measure, they further said.
The VIP security cover categorisations begin from the highest Z+, followed by Z, Y+, Y and X.
Last week, Sandhu was shown black flags in the Gagomahal village of Ajnala by a group of farmers while campaigning for the general elections.
Polling in Amritsar will take place on June 1.
The BJP is especially keen on winning Amritsar, a seat it has not won since Navjot Singh Sidhu’s victory in 2009. Sidhu is now in the Congress and the seat is currently represented by its member Gurjeet Singh Aujla.
The Congress is yet to name its candidate from the seat.
The BJP’s Arun Jaitley and Hardeep Singh Puri, currently a Union minister, lost from Amritsar in 2014 and 2019, respectively.
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