Government denies snooping on Rahul Gandhi; hints at change in doing security profiling of leaders

Official sources said the Home Ministry is likely to review the the methodology adopted to conduct the security profiling of political leaders.

Government on Monday countered the Congress charges of snooping on Rahul Gandhi saying it was making a "mountain out of what is not even a molehill" as information collection was part of a transparent security profiling used on 526 VIPs, including Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Ministers.

In the Rajya Sabha, the issue was raised by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad who said Rahul had been a SPG protectee since his father Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister and it was "beyond comprehension" why the police was only now collecting such information on him like his shoe size, colour of hair, habits, his associates, friends and aides.

Official sources said the Home Ministry is likely to review the the methodology adopted to conduct the security profiling of political leaders.

Unwanted questions may be removed from the proforma and new relevant questions can be added, sources said.

Besides, in case of MPs, the secretariates of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha could be taken into confidence while doing the procedure with regards to Parliamentarians, sources said.

The Home Ministry is expected to convene a meeting to review the process of conducting the security profiling of political leaders and take appropriate decisions, sources said.

Responding to the charges, Leader of Rajya Sabha and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in both Houses the police has been collecting such information since 1987 on VIPs living in Lutyens Delhi through a proforma as part of a transparent security profiling.

Security needs and profiling should be left to security experts and "we should not attempt to become one", he said, adding "the issue raised is making mountain of what is not even a molehill."

The proforma, which was revised in 1999, has been used to profile former prime ministers H D Dewa Gowda, I K Gujral, Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The same was also used to profile Congress President Sonia Gandhi in October 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, the Finance Minister said.

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Government denies snooping on Rahul Gandhi; hints at change in doing security profiling of leaders