Centre provides 'Y+' category CRPF security to BJP leader Dilli Ram Thapa: Sources

He has been granted the facility only in Sikkim, it added.

The BJP has named Dilli Ram Thapa from the Upper Burtuk Assembly Constituency.

Sikkim has 32 assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat. Polling for the assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held simultaneously on April 19.

Earlier, the Central government has provided 'Y+ escort' category Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) security cover to former Indian Ambassador to the US and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Taranjeet Singh Sandhu.

Sandhu has been granted the security cover for across India following an order issued earlier this week by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The MHA took the decision to extend the security cover to Sandhu based on a recent threat analysis report received from Intelligence Bureau.

Joining an exclusive club of ex-diplomats who made the switch to politics under the Narendra Modi government, Sandhu joined the BJP last month. Like him, Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and S Jaishankar are also former diplomats.

Sandhu is a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and the grandson of former Congress leader and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) founder member Teja Singh Samundri. Having retired on February 1, Sandhu began interacting with people from all walks of life in Amritsar from February 23 onwards, his grandfather's birth anniversary which sparked speculation then about his entry into politics.

He becomes the inaugural individual from his lineage since his grandfather, who was incarcerated by the British for his involvement in the Gurdwara Reform Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement, to enter the realm of politics.Born on January 23, 1963, Sandhu is a seasoned diplomat who has served in the United States on three occasions. Initially, he held a junior diplomatic post during the Pokhran tests in the 1990s and later ascended to the positions of Deputy Chief of Mission and Ambassador.

Sandhu is recognized for his pivotal role in rejuvenating diplomatic ties between New Delhi and Washington, DC, which had deteriorated following the 1998 Pokhran nuclear test.

During his tenure as First Secretary (political) at the Indian Embassy, he played a crucial role when the US Congress adopted a resolution denouncing Pakistan's involvement in the Kargil conflict. (ANI)