New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday launched a veiled attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Pegasus snooping allegations, which the government has categorically denied.


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Taking up the phone tapping issue, Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "We know what he`s been reading-everything on your phone! #Pegasus."


 



 


Along with his tweet, the Congress leader tagged his July 16 tweet saying, "I`m wondering what you guys are reading these days." 


Congress General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala has said that the government is "tapping jeevi" and has not spared even the RSS leadership and this is "detective sarkar".


The Indians in the snooping database include over 40 journalists, three major opposition figures, one constitutional authority, two serving ministers in the Narendra Modi government, current and former heads and officials of security organisations and scores of business persons, according to a report by a leading publication.


 


The Centre on Sunday (July 18) rejected the media reports which claim surveillance of prominent personalities including journalists and politicians by the government using Israel’s Pegasus spyware. Calling the snooping allegations "false and malicious,'' the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had said that there has been no unauthorised interception by government agencies.


“The allegations regarding government surveillance on specific people have no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever,” the ministry said in a statement. It said that the government is committed to ensuring the right to privacy of all its citizens.


“India is a robust democracy that is committed to ensuring the right to privacy to all its citizens as a fundamental right. In furtherance of this commitment, it has also introduced the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, to protect the personal data of individuals and to empower users of social media platforms,” the ministry said.


NSO Group, an Israeli company that sells Pegasus spyware worldwide, too said that the ''report is full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories,"


 


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