BJP targets Rajasthan govt over phone-tapping case

New Delhi, March 19 dmanewsdesk:  BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Bhupender Yadav hit out at the Congress government in Rajasthan on Friday over the phone-tapping case, accusing it of violating people’s constitutional rights to their privacy.

Speaking to reporters after raising the issue in Rajya Sabha, he said the state government has itself acknowledged that phones had been tapped and claimed that not only the common citizens but also Congress members were at the receiving end of the exercise.

The controversy around phone tapping erupted in July last year during the political crisis that was caused due to the rebellion of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other Congress MLAs against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s leadership.

The Rajasthan government has insisted that it did not tap phones of any legislator during last year’s political crisis, while acknowledging that phones of some private persons were tapped following due protocol.

Yadav said the Constitution provide every citizen rights to his or her privacy, and the government’s job is to protect those rights.

What the state government has done violated the Constitution, constitutional norms and also the mandate people had given it, the BJP leader said.

Reacting to reports that the CM’s OSD had circulated the mobile voice clips of some leaders, he said the Rajasthan government should tell who authorized him, as the Telegraph Act gives the powers to the government in this regard.

The BJP has demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter and created a ruckus in the state assembly.

Source: PTI