Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said the profiling of leaders was not dependant on whether their party was in power or in opposition, stating that the procedure followed by the Delhi Police was a routine exercise in order to cater to the security of 'VVIPs'.
"The profiles of 526 leaders, who we call VVIPs, were collated. It includes ruling party, opposition party, party presidents and senior-most leaders, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, Lal Krishna Advani, Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Sonia Gandhi," Naidu told the media.
"Even I have been asked for all these details in 2010, when I was in opposition. [The Delhi Police] say it is part of their responsibility to take care of the security of various leaders. There is a specific pro forma and that is normally filled by an officer and it is for a descriptive role that the Delhi Police seeks this information," he added.
Affirming that descriptive notes are collected by the police as part of the procedure, Naidu further accused Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad, who raised thiaissue in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, of attempting to 'embarrass' the government.
"The leader of the Congress party raised this issue in a big way attempting to embarrass the government but in the process has embarrassed himself as well as his party. I feel that the Congress party's strategy boomeranged on it," Naidu said.
"I have read out the pro forma of Atal ji, and the police do ask about complexion, what sort of footwear one wears, dress, spectacles, all these details are collected. And as Arun Jaitley said in the House, when the late Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, he was identified because of his shoes," he added.
Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi has denied that his force was profiling opposition leaders at the behest of the government, stating that the procedure has been practiced for decades.
The Delhi Police personnel had last week visited Rahul Gandhi's office and sought details about his height and colour of eyes and hair.