The Centre has decided to accord Z Plus security to the Opposition’s Presidential nominee Meira Kumar, at par with the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) nominee Ram Nath Kovind, a senior government official said on Friday.
Ms. Kumar, a former Lok Sabha speaker, was chosen as the Opposition's candidate to contest the Presidential poll on Thursday.
Ms. Kumar, who currently has 'X' category security, will be provided with 'Z+' security cover by the Delhi Police, the official said.
Under the 'X' category, the person who is protected gets one security personnel armed with a semi-automatic rifle round the clock.
The enhanced security cover entails about 36 security personnel, including commandos, protecting an individual whose threat perception is assessed to be very high by Central intelligence agencies.
After Mr. Kovind’s name was announced by the BJP president Amit Shah earlier this week, he was provided with Z plus security cover by NSG commandos.
