JOIN USKarnataka Pegasus row: BJP sees role of 'anti-nationals'
The Karnataka BJP has dismissed allegations of snooping on Congress and JD(S) leaders in 2019 prior to the collapse of the coalition government.
It alleged that ‘anti-nationals’ and ‘foreign agents’ were behind the slander campaign against the Centre.
Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, addressing a news conference, said that the snooping allegations were baseless. “The culture of phone tapping is only in Congress,” he said, after reports emerged that the controversial Pegasus spyware was used to snoop on leaders of the coalition government.
According to responses received under RTI by BJP leaders, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had admitted to tapping 9,000 phones and 500 e-mail accounts, he said.
Ashwath Narayan alleged that during the tenure of UPA, phones of union ministers and Congress leaders were snooped on. “Amnesty International is trying to bring disrepute to India by making baseless allegations” he said.
BJP general secretary Ashwathnarayan charged that Amnesty International, which exposed the Pegasus scandal, was promoting religious conversions in the country. The organisation had been financing anti-national student organisations, ” he alleged.
The scam is being highlighted to hide the internal strife in Congress units of Karnataka, Rajasthan and Punjab, he added.