Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi one of them
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Agencies
New Delhi, April 08 2009:
The Centre has sent an advisory to police chiefs of different states asking them to provide additional security to 11 chief ministers in view of threats to them from terrorists and naxalites.
These CMs are: Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (West Bengal), Mayawati (Uttar Pradesh), Naveen Patnaik (Orissa), Ashok Chavan (Maharashtra), Omar Abdullah (Jammu and Kashmir), Parkash Singh Badal (Punjab), Okram Ibobi Singh (Manipur) and Tarun Gogoi (Assam) .
The advisory comes a few days after Union home minister P Chidambaram wrote to 40 odd senior politicians on the need for taking adequate security precautions during the polls.
In the advisory sent by home ministry, the concerned state police chiefs have been asked to ensure security for the CMs of their respective state.
They have also been asked to conduct an "Advance Security Liaising" (ASL) meeting with officers from the Intelligence Bureau in coordination with the local police for the security of the concerned VVIP in view of their frequent movement during electioneering.
The home ministry's missive comes in the wake of reports suggesting terrorists' threats to key leaders in the run-up to the polls, sources said.
Earlier, Chidambaram had written to 40 top leaders -- mainly SPG and Z-plus (NSG) protectees -- of different political parties asking them "to take adequate precaution" for their safety.
His letter, mentioning dos and don'ts for these leaders on their conduct in public places and even at their residences -- was also marked to all the chief ministers for taking proper measures to ensure full-proof security to all these leaders within their respective states.
Top leaders who have high threat perception include Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, L K Advani, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Jayalalithaa, Kalyan Singh and Farooq Abdullah.
In his letter to the leaders, the home minister had also asked them "to cooperate with security forces engaged in security duties and share their tour programmes and movement plans with concerned central and state authorities well in advance during the election period".