Pegasus row: The BJP claimed on Thursday that the opposition's attack on the government over the Pegasus issue was all part of a "motivated campaign" aimed at weakening and defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the country.
BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wondered if Rahul Gandhi and the Congress will apologize after the Supreme Court-appointed panels probing the unauthorized use of Pegasus found some kind of malware in five mobile phones out of the 29 examined but could not conclude if it was due to the Israeli spyware.
He claimed that this has exposed the disinformation campaign of those who had accused the government of using the spyware to snoop on politicians, including the BJP, and others. Opposition parties, so-called intellectuals, some NGOs and a section of the media ran a sustained campaign against the government, Prasad told a press conference.
He also alleged that Congress has so much animus against Modi and his government that it resorts to falsehood to expand the party but ends up shrinking further after its lies are exposed. The Congress should take on the BJP in elections and not through such "sponsored" campaigns, he said, noting the ruling party has constantly prevailed over its rivals in polls.
He cited the Congress campaign against the government over the issue of Rafale aircraft purchase and the Central Vista project and noted that the Supreme Court found no irregularities in them. "Will Rahul Gandhi and the Congress apologize," he asked, noting that the opposition leader had leveled charges like treason against the prime minister for alleged surveillance of his colleagues and opposition leaders using Pegasus.
The prime minister was accused of crushing democracy and parliamentary proceedings were disrupted over the issue, he said, accusing the opposition parties of taking cover of PILs to move court after running "motivated" campaigns. The court-appointed panel on Pegasus also said that the Centre did not cooperate with the probe, a Supreme Court bench said after perusing the report submitted by former apex court Justice R V Raveendran.
Prasad suggested that the government refrained from sharing much information on the issue due to reasons of national security. National security for the BJP is a matter of commitment, he said. He also referred to then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's allegations of snooping, a charge aimed at his own colleagues, and said the Congress should not be giving wisdom on such issues. An RTI reply had revealed in 2013 that over 9,000 phones and 500 emails were under surveillance every month, he said, taking a swipe at Congress which was then in power.
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