Centre dubs Rahul’s statement on RSS push in SPG hirings ‘baseless’

NEW DELHI: The government on Monday termed as “baseless” and “devoid of fact” the statement of Congress president Rahul Gandhi that a former Special Protection Group (SPG) chief had to quit because he refused to accept a list of officers handpicked by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

A statement issued by the Union home ministry said the matter was verified and that the officer concerned has denied having such conversation with the Congress chief, who is also a protectee of the SPG.

“The officer in question, Shri Vivek Srivastava, former Director, SPG, has specifically averred that he did not have any such conversation with Shri Rahul Gandhi at any point of time. The officer has stated that as part of his professional duties he interacted with SPG protectees; however, he has categorically stated that during his interaction with Shri Gandhi, there was no talk whatsoever regarding the appointment of a new Director, or the reasons for his leaving SPG,” said the statement.

Srivastava is a Gujarat cadre Indian Police Service officer of 1989 batch and is now working in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on deputation. After a two-year-long stint in the SPG, Srivastava came back to the IB.

Interacting with college and university teachers from nearly 20 states , Gandhi on Sunday had said: “When PM Narendra Modi came to power, an officer was chosen from Gujarat to head SPG. He came to see me...Again he came and said I am leaving. I asked why? He said I have a list of people that RSS wants to be put in SPG. I refused, that’s why...”

Reacting to the home ministry’s statement, a Congress spokesperson said such concerns should not be politicised and insisted that Gandhi’s remarks were never meant to question the integrity of the SPG as an institution. HTC