Maharashtra government reduces security cover of Devendra Fadnavis, Raj Thackeray

The Maharashtra government has reduced the security cover of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis and his family former UP governor Ram Naik and MNS president Raj Thackeray and withdrawn the security cover of state BJP chief Chandrakant PatilState BJP spokesman Keshav Upadhye termed it as vendetta politics while former chief minister Fadnavis said this would not impact his plans to travel and meet peopleHowever state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh rejected the opposition BJPs charge and said the security of political leaders was reviewed as per the prevailing threat perceptionAs per a government notification issued on January 8 Fadnavis will now get Yplus security with escort instead of the Zplus coverThe security of his wife Amruta Fadnavis and daughter Divija has been downgraded from Yplus with escort to X categoryFormer Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik will now get Y cover instead of YplusMNS chief Raj Thackerays security cover has been downgraded from Z to Y plus with escortThe security covers of BJP leader and former CM Narayan Rane state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil and senior party leader Sudhir Mungantiwar have been withdrawn Rane had Yplus securityBesides the security of state Lokayukta M L Tahiliani has been downgraded from Z to YAccording to sources the Zplus security comprises a bulletproof car a police inspector two assistant police inspectors two police subinspectors two escort vehicles with six constables in each and 10 other constables at any given point of time while the Z category has a security cover of 22 personnelThe Y category comprises a security cover of 11 personnel while the X category has a security cover of two personnel the sources saidThe government as per the notification has upgraded the security of two persons downgraded of 11 withdrawn of 16 while 13 new people have got security coverProminent among the new persons to get security are Sunetra Pawar wife of state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Varun Sardesai secretary of the Yuva Sena and nephew of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackerays wife Rashmi ThackerayBoth have been given X security coverUnion minister Ramdas Athawale will get only Yplus security instead of the Yplus with escort while central minister Raosaheb Danves Yplus cover has been withdrawnThe government has also withdrawn the security cover of former minister Rajkumar Badole BJP MLAs Prasad Lad and Ram Kadam and former speaker and BJP legislator Haribhau BagdeThe state has also withdrawn the X category security of former Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh who quit the party and BJPs former minister Shobhatai Fadnavis an aunt of Devendra FadnavisSenior advocate Ujjwal Nikams Yplus with escort cover has been upgraded to Z while film actor and Congress leader Shatrughan Sinhas Yplus cover has been upgraded to Yplus with escortThe security of BJPs former minister Ashish Shelar has been downgraded from Yplus to YState Legislative Council Chairman Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar and Relief and Rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar will get Yplus with escort while Shiv Sena MLA Vaibhav Naik who had defeated Narayan Rane in the 2014 Assembly polls will get X security coverCurrent state ministers Sandeepan Bhumre Sunil Kedar Dilip Walse Patil and Abdul Sattar Leader of Opposition in the Council Pravin Darekar and state Assemblys Deputy Speaker Narhari Zhirwal have been given Y coverMeanwhile state BJP spokesman Keshav Upadhye alleged that the security of Fadnavis and other BJP leaders was downgraded out of political vendettaThe decision shows what kind of a mindset the government has and it is unfortunate During the COVID19 lockdown period Fadnavis was travelling to the nook and corner of the state while Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was sitting at home he claimedUpadhye said Fadnavis was the first to reach Bhandara where 10 babies died in fire at a hospital on SaturdayEven if the entire security cover is removed he Fadnavis would continue to travel in the state and highlight the voice of the people the BJP leader saidReacting to the governments decision Fadnavis said he had no complaints or worryI am a peoples person and this doesnt impact my travel schedules to meet people he saidSpeaking to reporters in Nagpur state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh rejected Upadhyes charge and said the decision to review the security cover of several leaders and prominent personalities has been taken as perthe threat perception irrespectiveof political affiliationsA committee of five senior officers was set up to review the security and take a decision as per the threat perception he saidDeshmukh said even NCP chief Sharad Pawar whose party is an ally of the Shiv Sena in the state government called him over phone asking that his security cover be downgradedDuring the BJPs rule Sharad Pawar and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar did not have any security Sharad Pawar has also written a letter seeking reduction in his security the minister saidMeanwhile BJP leader Narayan Rane said he was given security by Mumbai police because he had a threat from terroristsI have no complaints If anything happens to me the state government is to be blamed he saidSudhir Mungantiwar said he was given security due to Naxal threatI thank the government for withdrawing my security cover This means the Naxal threat doesnt exist Our aim to highlight peoples voice will be stronger he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever