Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during his recent lecture at Cambridge university, alleged that Israeli spyware Pegasus was installed on his phone and that Intelligence officers had warned him to be “careful” saying that his phone was being snooped on.
“I myself had Pegasus on my phone. Large number of politicians have Pegasus on their phones. I’ve been called by Intelligence officers who say please be careful of what you say on your phone as we are recording the stuff,” Gandhi had said, according to news agency ANI.
“This is a constant pressure that we feel. I’ve got a number of criminal liable cases registered against me for the things which, under no circumstances, be criminal cases. And that’s what we are trying to defend,” he added and went on to say, “As the Opposition, it is very difficult to communicate with people when you have this type of an assault on media and on the democratic architecture.”
Hitting back at Gandhi, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday said that it has become the “habit” of the Congress party to “defame” India on foreign shores.
“What was his compulsion that he could not submit his mobile phone (before the committee) to have it checked for Pegasus spyware? He is already on bail in a (National Herald) corruption case. What was there in his phone that he needed to hide? Why did he and other leaders (who Rahul claims were allegedly spied on) not submit their phones? It has become his habit to defame India on foreign shores,” Thakur said.
Further, Thakur, without naming billionaire investor George Soros, said that Gandhi’s statements raise larger questions about the party’s “agenda to defame the country”. George Soros hit the headlines recently or his speech at the Munich Security Conference alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani have “close ties” and that the turmoil in the Adani Enterprises following the allegations by US-based short-seller firm Hindenburg Research, could lead to a “democratic revival” in India.
“It could be Rahul Gandhi’s hatred towards the Prime Minister (that makes him raise such allegations). But it also raises larger questions on the Congress’ agenda to defame the country repeatedly from a foreign land, sometimes from a foreign friend. Has Congress lost its faith in our constitutional institutions? Will Congress continue to raise questions about India’s democracy? Rahul Gandhi left no stone unturned in defaming India on foreign land,” Thakur said.
On Tuesday, Gandhi delivered his lecture at Cambridge at the university’s Judge Business School on the subject ‘Learning to Listen in the 21st Century’. Gandhi is on a week-long visit to the UK.
