After Rahul Gandhi's 'treason' remark on Pegasus row, BJP dares him to submit phone for investigation

The BJP on Friday dared Rahul Gandhi to submit his phone for investigation if he believes it was tapped, and asserted that no one’s phone has been tapped illegally by the Modi government. BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore told reporters that the Congress is determined to stall Parliament for one reason or another after being rejected twice by people in Lok Sabha polls of 2014 and 2019. Amid a row over the suspected Pegasus snooping, Gandhi had said earlier that all his phones were tapped. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah allegedly used the Pegasus spyware against India and its institutions, and “the only word for this is treason”, Gandhi charged. He also said that every phone he uses is tapped. The former Congress president demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter and also the home minister’s resignation. “Pegasus is classified by the Israeli state as a weapon and that weapon is supposed to be used against terrorists. The prime minister and the home minister have used this weapon against the Indian state and our institutions. They have used it politically, they have used it in Karnataka..,” Gandhi told reporters. “The home minister should resign and a judicial inquiry by the Supreme Court should be conducted on Narendra Modi, as no one else can authorise the use of Pegasus only the prime minister and home minister can authorise its use,” he added. Rathore said everybody has the right to what they want in a democracy. Gandhi should submit his phone to probe agency, and investigation will take place as per the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he said. The Congress cannot accept the country’s development and has been stalling Parliament’s functioning often one one pretext or another, he alleged.