BSP turncoats stripped of their security cover

LUCKNOW: At least half-a-dozen political leaders, who had either left the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) themselves or had been shown the door by the party, were striped of the security paraphernalia they enjoyed while in the government on Thursday.
Some of these leaders, who were enjoying Z, Y and X- grade security which comprised escort cars, watchers, shadows and spotters to move along with the individual apart from armed pickets at their respective residences and offices.
After security review, these leaders will now be accompanied by a single, or at the most, two armed guards. Prominent among those whose security has been revised include Rajya Sabha MP from Bahujan Samaj Party Naresh Agarwal, who enjoyed a Z category security cover, and has now joined SP along with his son.
Similarly, the Y category security of sacked secondary education minister Rangnath Misra has been trimmed to X category. Others including Badshah Singh, Anees Ahmed and Shahzil Islam who had two or more armed guards around them, will now have to depend on their personal arrangements.
With the leaders in question understandably angered by the government move, the issue may snowball into a major controversy as they were now planning to not only take up the issue with the Election Commission but raise it from their respective political platforms. “It is a serious affair. How can the government do this particularly when the elections have been already notified. This was a special review, we are told. We will not take it lying down,” Naresh Agarwal said.