The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has withdrawn the security cover of five Rajya Sabha MPs from the state who recently defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The state government ordered its police personnel to vacate the New Delhi residences of these MPs.
Centre Steps In with CRPF Protection
In a counter-move, the BJP-led central government provided Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) protection to the affected MPs. These include cricketer-turned-politician Harbhajan Singh, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta, and Sandeep Pathak.
One affected MP told the Times of India that while his Punjab Police detail of four personnel was removed, the Centre almost immediately replaced them with a larger contingent of 15 CRPF personnel.
State Government's Stance
A Punjab government functionary said that the state asked its personnel to return, handing over security responsibilities to the Delhi Police. Police in Punjab have been instructed to provide security to the MPs only on a need basis or for specific local programmes, the official added.
The official clarified that except for Raghav Chadha, who holds Z-category cover in Punjab and Delhi, none of the other MPs had categorised security. Chadha was designated a Z protectee by the Centre on April 15 after the state withdrew his Z-plus cover. This shift took place following Chadha's public fallout with AAP leadership after his removal as the party's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha.
Protests and Graffiti Incidents
The security withdrawal coincides with AAP continuing its protests against the MPs across Ludhiana, Bathinda, Faridkot, and Chandigarh. On Saturday, protesters defaced the main entrance of Harbhajan Singh's Jalandhar home and the entrance of Lovely Professional University (LPU), owned by Mittal, with 'gaddar' (traitor) graffiti.
On April 24, Chadha, Pathak, and Mittal—whose premises were recently raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)—held a press conference to announce their merger into the BJP, alongside four other party MPs, including Swati Maliwal and Sahney.
Harbhajan Singh had the largest security detail of over a dozen personnel before the withdrawal. The development marks a significant escalation in the political tensions between the AAP government in Punjab and the BJP at the Centre.
