NEW DELHI: Calling Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra a private citizen, Union Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday slammed Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi for briefing Priyanka on PM Narendra Modi’s security and breach.Addressing a press conference here today, she said, “Why did the Punjab CM brief a private citizen (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) on the PM’s security protocol and the breach? Why is the private citizen, who is a part of the Gandhi family, an interested party into the matter?”.She further questioned the Congress-led Punjab government for “deliberately breaching” the Prime Minister’s security measures.Irani said, “I reiterate our questions to Congress high command. Why were security measures deliberately breached with the active connivance of the Congress-led government in Punjab? Who in Congress sought to benefit from the breach?”The Union Minister and BJP leader said, “What is extremely disconcerting is that the Punjab Police officials have highlighted how they continuously engaged with the Congress government and the administration in Punjab to bring to light the threat to the security of PM and his route”.”The question that begets this expose that who in the Punjab Congress-led government continued to deliberately ignore threats to the PM’s security,” she added.Meanwhile, in the most recent development in PM Modi’s security breach issue, the Supreme Court on Wednesday set up a committee headed by a retired top court judge, Justice Indu Malhotra to probe into the security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Punjab visit on January 5.A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justices Surya Kant, and Hima Kohli while setting up the independent Committee said such an issue of relating to breach of security of Prime Minister cannot be decided by “one-sided inquiry” of Centre or the State government and it has to be by a “judicially trained mind”.The Prime Minister was stuck atop a flyover for 15-20 minutes while on his way to Ferozpur, Punjab earlier this month due to the road being blocked by some protesters. The Ministry of Home Affairs termed it as a “major lapse” in his security.
