Continuing the Congress party’s offensive on the Pegasus snooping scandal, Rahul Gandhi on Friday sought to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the issue.
Media reports over the past week claimed Rahul Gandhi’s phone number had been on the list of those marked for surveillance by the Pegasus spyware. Referring to the allegation, Rahul Gandhi was quoted by ABP News as saying, “All my phones are tapped, IB guys call me and tell me your phone is tapped; they call up my friends also and tell them to communicate me the same, but I don’t get intimidated. I have been told this 3 to 4 times.”
Rahul Gandhi was quoted by NDTV as saying, “I am not afraid. I don’t get intimidated. In this country, if you are corrupt and a thief, you will be afraid. If you are neither of those, you have nothing to be afraid of.”
Rahul Gandhi was quoted by NDTV as saying, “The home minister should resign and there should be a judicial inquiry against Narendra Modi. No one can authorise [use of] Pegasus but the home minister and prime minister.”
Rahul argued, “The main question is that has the government not paid for this? Can you buy Pegasus? Can I buy Pegasus? Only a government can buy Pegasus. The prime minister’s signature, or at least the home minister’s signature, is needed for it. The military of a nation cannot buy Pegasus.”
Rahul noted Pegasus had been classified by Israel as a weapon meant to be used against terrorists, but the “prime minister and home minister used it to scuttle probes,” NDTV reported
Rahul Gandhi described the misuse of Pegasus as treason.