Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children — Rahul and Priyanka — face a threat from the banned LTTE prompting the Union home ministry to issue an alert to states to provide tight security cover during their visits. With the campaign for the forthcoming general elections slowly reaching a crescendo, the ministry has issued a general alert asking the director generals of police of all states to maintain strict vigil when the Gandhi family members travel to the states.
Officials said the alert specifically asked the southern states to keep a close watch of the visit of Gandhi family keeping in mind that the LTTE had carried out an attack on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, assassinating him during the run-up for elections in 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.
The roadshows of the Gandhi family have already been curtailed in view of the heightened tensions due to threat from militants.
