Truth be told, the special protection group (SPG), viciously called as ‘Sonia Protection Group,’ was indeed a creation of the Gandhis. Its need was felt after the Delhi police failed to protect Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. Hence the strong imprint of Rajiv Gandhi, her son and successor, and the near-personal allegiance to the family rooted in the force’s DNA.

This only got accentuated when Rajiv was killed in May 1991. Having ceased to be PM, he was devoid of SPG protection at the time of his assassination.

Changes in the SPG Act (1991, 1994, 1999, 2003) expanded the ambit to include former PMs and their immediate family.

But everything only strengthened the cultural paradigm and bonds of SPG as a force for the family.

The last amendment, effected by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in March 2003, gave a former PM and his or her immediate family ‘protectee status’, “for a period of one year from the date on which the former Prime Minister ceased to hold office and beyond one year based on the level of the threat as decided by the central government, so however that not more than twelve months shall elapse between two consecutive assessments made in regard to the need for proximate security.”

This meant two things. First, the Gandhi family, then nowhere near recapturing power that it did in May 2004, would be on an annual dole of sorts.

Second, Vajpayee and any future PM could year-on-year exclude a zoo of ex PMs from the ‘protectee list’ affording them then Z or Z+ security, instead, which essentially involves one of the paramilitary forces (National Security Guard in the case of Z+).

Hence my three suggestions to Modi bhaktas now demanding SPG protection for their god:

1. The force, under the Act, can’t be deployed for ‘declared prime ministerial candidates,’ irrespective of the merits of the threat perception on their lives. The Act isn’t cast in stone; but it surely needs an Ordinance to name Modi (and any others who will claim similar status as declared PM candidates of their own party!). Normally mature BJP spokesperson Piyush Goyal tweeted invoking US-system where a declared presidential candidate immediately gets Secret Service cover, but this is not applicable in a political system where Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patnaik, Mamta Banerjee, J Jayalalithaa and/or Mayawati are also the ‘declared PM candidate’ of their motley crowd. In fact, if Goyal’s logic were to be rewound, who could have foreseen Manmohan Singh as the future PM or given him advance SPG protection?

2. Continued SPG cover to Vajpayee is a difficult and emotive issue. The obvious question will be why give an annual extension of protectee status to a former PM who hasn’t been seen in public for the last 6-7 years. Questions on Robert Vadra, the controversial son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, strutting around with SPG protection will be linked to Vajpayee and his foster family, including the not-so-uncontroversial son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharyya, enjoying an utterly unnecessary cover.

3. SPG isn’t just a status symbol. For it to be effective, it requires deep support on the ground from local police and intelligence operations where the protectee is travelling. This is where mere lip-service of SPG protection (via an Ordinance!) to Modi is a non-starter. If the state police and intel offer him the lacklustre cover that Nitish Kumar did in Bihar, what will SPG do except provide him an inner ring without any help from the outside?

Tailpiece: Vajpayee was to address a large rally in Lucknow. The SPG DIG, who told me the story, came in the advance party and saw that the state police was woefully short of metal detectors. Failing to convince the local administration that each person in the crowd must pass through a metal detector, he put his foot down and threatened to invoke the Blue Book and cancel the PM’s visit. The administration balked and immediately promised the DIG that the hundreds of metal detecting frames he wanted installed would be commissioned overnight. The PM came, spoke and went. But just as the DIG was leaving, the local police chief smiled and mentioned, “Sir, those hundreds of ‘detectors’ you saw the crowds pass through were basic chaukhats (door frames) we procured from the neighbouring carpenters! Nothing more!”

So much for SPG protection without the support of local police and intel.