Congress compares bugging issue to Gujarat snoopgate

NEW DELHI: Drawing parallels with Gujarat snoopgate controversy, Congress today targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the alleged bugging at Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's residence and demanded a probe saying "truth must come out".

The Congress' attack came even as Gadkari, who holds the portfolio of Highways and Transport, himself today completely denied that there was any bugging at his house and BJP accused the opposition party of raising "non-issues" to malign the government's image and "preserve its identity".

"This used to happen in Gujarat.... Now the days of snooping have come even in Delhi. It seems its architects have come here as well," party spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil told reporters at the AICC briefing

"...The movements of a woman was kept under surveillance in Gujarat under the instruction of one "Sahib". That voice was not denied so far. A DGP of Gujarat had said that 90 thousand phones in Gujarat were tapped illegally. There was a time people used to say that phone tapping happens in Gujarat on a mass scale. It seems that Gadkari's house was being snooped upon...Truth must come out," he said .

Latching on to Gadkari's yesterday remarks, Gohil, who is a senior Congress leader from Gujarat, said that even Gadkari was only saying "highly speculative" reports about recovery of listening devices from his residence and not denying it.

Unconvinced by Gadkari's denial, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh demanded a probe by an investigating agency into the episode saying it was a serious matter.

"It concerns the security of an important person in the Indian cabinet. If it can happen to him, then God save the country," he said. His views were echoed by former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who also demanded an inquiry. Another Congress leader Manish Tewari said the government must inform the citizens the legal architecture available to protect themselves from such incidents.