Phone tapping Congress modus operandi, alleges Haryana CM

Slamming the Congress for creating a ruckus in Parliament over phone tapping, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that it has been Congress' modus operandi and also alleged that phones of as many as 9,000 people were tapped during its reign.

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday slammed the Congress for creating a ruckus in Parliament over phone tapping, saying it has a habit of raising allegations rather than discussing developmental issues. He also alleged that during the reign of the UPA government, phones of as many as 9,000 people were tapped.

"Our party has nothing to do with spying or phone tapping. If at all there is any party who has a habit of hatching spying conspiracies and destabilizing popular governments, it is definitely the Congress," Khattar told the media here.

He said in the past seven years as Prime Minister, the Narendra Modi-led government did not give Congress a chance to raise issues, this time also it hatched a conspiracy to defame and malign democracy.

"It is unfortunate how the Congress rather than discussing developmental issues is supporting international agencies and Left-wing organizations to damage India's democratic fabric. Congress is not going to gain anything by doing these petty things to malign the image of India. The country is watching them," said the Chief Minister.

"The Congress never believed in running the country democratically. Today they are raising their voice against phone tapping by just believing the reports published in international agencies and a Left-wing portal but I would like to remind them that when the Congress was at the Centre, they themselves had used surveillance as a tool to spy on its own leaders," said Khattar.

Citing an example, the Chief Minister said evidence along with media reports is there highlighting how the Congress had spied on its own party leaders, including former Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"Former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's letter written to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to conduct an enquiry against the then Home Minister P Chidambaram for spying on him is also not a hidden fact," added Khattar.

(With IANS inputs)