In the midst of intra-party furore against his leadership in the state, Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai has been awarded with an enhanced security cover by the Central government and with an upgradation, his new security detail would involve additional commandos. 

The move has come on the grounds that Annamalai has been receiving threats. According to reports, the intelligence agencies have briefed to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs about the threat being faced by Annamalai, based on which the ministry considered enhancing the security cover for Annamalai. The state BJP chief had been guarded under the Y security category and now, his security cover has been upgraded to Z category. 

While there has been no details about the specific threat for Annamalai, the reports say that the BJP leader has been fiercely voicing against religious fundamentalism in Tamil Nadu, particularly after the car bomb blast in Coimbatore on October 30, 2022. It has been alleged that he received threats from Maoists and religious extremists. There were also a slew of attacks on the residence of Hindutva leaders in recent months.

In view of growing threat, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had also recommended that Annamalai must be provided with an upgraded security cover. With the new security cover, Annamalai will be provided Z-category security and 33 commandos will be deployed to protect him. The commandos will be a part of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Z security cover is the third most powerful security category in India after SPG (Special Protection Group) and Z+. While SPG guards only the Prime Minister, Z+ has been providing the security cover for central ministers, businessmen including Mukesh Ambani, Chief Ministers including MK Stalin, Yogi Adityanath, and Arvind Kejriwal, and celebrities like Salman Khan. 

Over 800 people in India are being covered under Z, Y+, Y, and X security categories. The security cover and its upgradation would be provided and approved by the Union Home Ministry based on a threat assessment done by the Intelligence Bureau. The security cover would also be withdrawn or downsized if the threat level is low. For Annamalai, his security cover was upgraded from X to Y in April 2022 and now, the Home Ministry enhanced his security cover to Z category.