‘Treason’: Opposition wants SC-led or JPC probe into Pegasus snoopgate
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 20
Political storm over the alleged use of a foreign spyware to snoop on opponents, journalists and other people intensified on Tuesday with both Houses of Parliament witnessing repeated disruptions after the Congress-led Opposition demanded suspension of business to debate the issue involving “national security and citizen privacy”.
Also read: How does the Pegasus spyware work, and is my phone at risk?
The MPs of the joint Opposition led by the Congress moved adjournment notices in both Houses with Lok Sabha adjourned for the day following three disruptions and Rajya Sabha witnessing a pandemonium until after lunch when the House finally sat to discuss Covid response.
Hours after the issue rocked Parliament, a fresh expose alleged that in the run-up to the toppling of the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka in July 2019, the phone numbers of then Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and the personal secretaries of then CM HD Kumaraswamy and ex-CM Siddaramaiah were on the snooping list.
Raising the heat on the matter, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, party’s Karnataka unit president DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah and party media chief Randeep Surjewala demanded an urgent Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter alleging the “government had murdered the mandate of the people”. The Left parties sought a joint parliamentary committee probe.
Earlier in Parliament, Congress, NCP, Trinamool, DMK, Left, RJD and Shiv Sena MPs sought accountability and probe, a day after the government rejected snooping allegations as “impossible with the checks and balances of Indian laws”.
In the Lok Sabha, Congress and Trinamool MPs flashed placards seeking answers after reports alleging that phones of Rahul Gandhi and TMC member Abhishek Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, were potential spying targets. The Lok Sabha Speaker’s repeated pleas to the MPs to go back to their seats fell flat as the first adjournment came five minutes after the House assembled and the final one at 3 pm.
While the government maintained again today that the allegations were a “conspiracy to defame Indian democracy and disrupt Parliament”, the Opposition flagged the third alleged expose claiming the spyware was used on the eve of the toppling of an elected government in Karnataka.
Taking a swipe at Home Minister Amit Shah, who yesterday questioned the chronology of events and the timing of Pegasus leaks, Surjewala said, “You can all see the chronology now. The fact is the Pegasus spyware was used to topple an elected government. The Modi government has murdered the people’s mandate. This is treason. Who knows further exposes reveal that the Congress’ Madhya Pradesh government was similarly toppled.”
Earlier, leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge held a joint opposition meeting after which the parties moved common adjournment notices on the spyware issue.
