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Lucknow, Uttarpradesh: Ahead of the assembly elections, bulletproof jackets are being provided to 44 leaders from major political parties to strengthen their security arrangements. This group includes prominent leaders from both the ruling party and the opposition. Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati, and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya have already been provided with these jackets. Among the ministers holding ‘Z’ or ‘Y-plus’ category security, some have already received the jackets, while the process is underway for others.
Providing bulletproof jackets to leaders before the elections is considered a significant step. Ministers in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet—such as Om Prakash Rajbhar, Nand Gopal Gupta “Nandi”, Sanjay Nishad, Ashish Patel, Swatantra Dev Singh, Jaiveer Singh, Suresh Khanna, Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan, Baby Rani Maurya, and Baldev Singh Aulakh—already have categorized security cover. Bulletproof jackets are now being provided to them based on assessments by central and state intelligence agencies and their specific security requirements.
‘Z-plus’ security has been provided to Governor Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, former Chief Ministers Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, former Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, former MP Vinay Katiyar, former Minister Suresh Rana, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, former Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, and retired Allahabad High Court Judge Sudhir Agarwal (who delivered the Ayodhya verdict).
This list includes Minister Sanjay Nishad, MLA Pankaj Singh, former Governor Kalraj Mishra, former Governor Phagu Chauhan, Women’s Commission Vice-Chairperson Aparna Bisht Yadav, former DGP and Rajya Sabha member Brijlal, former MP Rajveer Singh, MLA Pooja Pal, and Kashi’s Satua Baba.
Also included are Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, BSP General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, former MLA Sangeet Som, former MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, Ministers Nand Gopal Gupta “Nandi”, Swatantra Dev Singh, and Jaiveer Singh, former Minister Mahendra Singh, and Congress Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari.
Report – Abhijit Tushar Bhatt (Political Editor)
