BJP questions Congress on ‘illegal’ phone-tapping in Rajasthan, demands CBI probe

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 18

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Launching a fierce attack against the Congress, the BJP on Saturday posed questions to the party and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on “unconstitutional and illegal activities like tapping of phones” in the state, demanding an immediate reply from the “high command” and a CBI probe into the “serious and sensitive” matter.

Stating that “morality” of the BJP in the Rajasthan political imbroglio was “crystal clear”, party spokesperson Sambit Patra accused Gehlot of “manufacturing lies” and undertaking “illegal measures like phone-tapping” to save his government.

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“The political drama unfolding in Rajasthan every second is a cocktail of manufactured lies and illegalities,” Patra said, posing six questions to the party and demanding its immediate reply on what he called a “serious and important issue”.

Patra demanded to know whether the tapping of phones had been done officially. “Several politicians are claiming that the tapes are authentic. The Congress says they are sourced from the social media. Phone-tapping is not just a sensitive but a serious legal issue that requires immediate answers,” he said.

Asking if the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was followed in the process, Patra said, “Assuming that you have tapped phones, our next question would be if the SOP was followed. This not only the BJP wants to know but the people of Rajasthan as it is an issue related to privacy,” he said.

Patra also wanted to know whether Gehlot, after feeling cornered, used “unconstitutional ways to save his government” and whether in Rajasthan “tapping the phones of politicians was a normal routine”.

“The phones of politicians, whichever party they may belong to, are being tapped in Rajasthan as this is what we gather. A lot of unconstitutional things are happening there,” he said.

Quoting SOPs for tapping phones under legal procedure, Patra said tapping could be done only by authorised agencies.

Patra also asked if in that case it was not a situation of emergency in Rajasthan. “The Congress has a history of phone-tapping,” he said, recounting the incident when phones of Rashtrapati Bhavan were found bugged during its government.

Regarding a question on “BJP leader” Sanjay Jain, who has been accused of engineering the fall of the Gehlot government, Patra said he did not have to answer to “concocted and manufactured lies”.

Patra also slammed the Gehlot government on the Congress MLAs “flouting” Covid SOPs at a time when Rajasthan saw the highest single-day spike on Friday.

“Reality is when in 2018 the Congress government was formed we saw two factions fighting on the streets, one belonging to Sachin Pilot and the other to Ashok Gehlot. The Chief Minister himself has admitted that he was not on talking terms with his deputy, and that there was a cold war between the two. Then they say all this is being controlled by the BJP. The sin is theirs and the entire conspiracy existed within the Congress and was executed by it,” Patra said.