BJP, JD(U) demand government to come out clearly on phone tapping issue

NEW DELHI: BJP and JD(U) today demanded that the government should come out clearly on the controversy over alleged tapping of phones of prominent MPs belonging to Opposition parties, saying it was a serious matter.

"This government has continuously engaged in snooping and there are several agents in this regime who are involved in spying on leaders. First this government was found spying on its ministers, then its allies and now the Opposition leaders. This is a serious matter," BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters outside Parliament House.

BJP demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should come out with a clarification on the issue.

"If the government spends even 50 per cent of the energy it is wasting on spying on India's security, and combating terrorism and naxalism, then the country would have benefited and the government would clean some of the taint of failure," Naqvi said.

Asked if the tapping of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley's phone was being done at the behest of his detractors in BJP, Naqvi vehemently denied it.

JD(U) spokesperson and MP Shivanand Tiwari said there were reports that his phone as well as those of his party colleague N K Singh and SP leader Ramgopal Yadav have been tapped.

"Who is tapping these phones and who is getting them tapped. More worrisome is that the machine used for tapping these phones have been brought to the country in big numbers and it is very easy to tap the phones," he said.

Tiwari demanded that a probe be ordered to find out the people behind tapping of phones. "It seems there is no government and everybody is doing as he wants," he said.