UPA govt tapped phones of Pawar, Karat, Nitish & Digvijay

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: In a shocking revealation, a Delhi based magazine has revealed that the UPA government at the Centre was indulged in tapping the phones of senior political leaders including its own and gaining information on issues ranging from the IPL to the India-US nuclear deal.

The Outlook magazine, in its upcoming issue, claims to have got authentic information from highly placed sources that the government was tapping NCP supreme Sharad Pawar’s phone when he was talking to IPL chief Lalit Modi.

He was purportedly discussing a deal with Modi, the report says.

The phone of CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat was also being tapped in June 2008 when the India-US nuclear deal was being discussed in Parliament. Karat led the charge of Opposition against the deal.

The report goes on to reveal the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was also in the line of leak when he visited Delhi in October 2007.

He was heard discussing central funds for the Kochi river project with a colleague.

Shockingly, Congress leader Digvijay Singh was also on the radar. His phone was tapped in February 2007. He was discussing poll candidates with a Punjab Congress leader for Congress Working Committee election.

Reacting to the expose, CPI’s D Raja condemned the tapping and said it seemed as if ‘we were living under a military regime.’

“It is not the question of just Karat. We are a democracy, why is such a thing done at all,?” he asked when contacted by a TV channel.

BJP’s Nirmala Sitaraman took the opportunity to declare that the incident showed how the Congress was returning to its old Emergency days.

“I am not shocked…the fascist tendencies of the Congress are slowly coming back,” she said.

“If the government is tapping the phones of terrorists, or tax evaders or secessionists, then it is understandable as national interest and national security are involved. But tapping phones of politicians and ministers is condemnable,” BJP Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said.

The issue, if true, could turn into a massive embarrassment for the Government and will provide fresh ammunition to the Opposition which has already caused much furore against the UPA over IPL, price rise and other issues in the on-going Budget session of the Parliament.

“Government should be ready to answer on Monday as to who gave it the right to violate Article 21,” the BJP leader said.

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