In a letter to Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta dated December 28, 2007, UP's Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar Singh said the Chief Minister faced ‘tremendous threat’ from terror outfits.

The letter, sent a day after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, said the UP Chief Minister, who is also the President of Bahujan Samaj Party, should be immediately provided with an SPG cover to guard her ‘round-the-clock’.

Another reason cited by the state cabinet secretary for extending the elite security cover to Mayawati is that she has to travel to various parts of the country in connection with her party work and it was, therefore, necessary to have a centralised command for her security.

Home Ministry officials said SPG cover was limited only to the Prime Minister of the country and his family and former Prime Ministers and their families.

As per records, there was no threat to UP Chief Minister from any terror group, the officials said. Recently, Uttar Pradesh Police killed two Lashker-e-Taiba militants in Barabanki area and later claimed they were in the state to assassinate UP Chief Minister.