New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who has been leading a protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Parliament over farmers' agitation and the 'Pegasus Project' media report on Friday, slammed PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. "Pegasus is classified by the Israeli state as a weapon and that weapon is supposed to be used against terrorists. The Prime Minister and Home Minister have used this against the Indian state and against our institutions," the Congress leader said.
They have used it politically, they've used it in Karnataka, they've used it to scuttle probes, they've used it against Supreme Court, they have used it against all the institutions of this country. The only word for this is treason and there is no other word for this, he further said.
"My phone was tapped. It's not a matter of Rahul Gandhi's privacy. I'm an Opposition leader, I raise the voices of people. This is an attack on voices of the people. Home Minister should resign & there should be a Supreme Court inquiry against Narendra Modi," Rahul said.
Read: Rahul takes swipe at Centre on farmers' row
The Congress, DMK and Shiv Sena MPs took to protest against the alleged Pegasus snooping controversy at the Parliament premises, demanding that a Supreme Court-monitored judicial probe be conducted into the matter. The MPs were also seen holding up banners with the slogan "#Pegasus Snoop Gate".
Earlier on Thursday, TMC MP Santanu Sen was seen snatching and tearing a document on Pegasus matter from Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the Rajya Sabha, amid the ongoing standoff on the issue between the Centre and Opposition. The Opposition has alleged that names of several Indian politicians, journalists, lawyers, and activists have appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware.
Read: Congress vows to stand behind farmers against 3 bills
On Friday, the latest news reports revealed that industrialist Anil Ambani, former CBI Director Alok Verma, and two other senior officers - former special director Rakesh Asthana and former additional director AK Sharma, were potential targets of Pegasus spyware. To this, the Congress leader reiterated his accusations over the Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that he is responsible for the corruption in Rafale.
"I've said this very clearly that there is gross theft in Rafale. The investigation is going on in France and you will see that the Prime Minister himself is responsible for corruption in Rafale," Gandhi had alleged.
