Snooping row: Congress women wing to wave black flags during Modi's public appearances

NEW DELHI: Women Congress leaders have said party workers would stage protest marches and wave black flags during BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's public appearance, "for conducting illegal surveillance on a young woman by tapping and taping her phones and snooping into her private life".

Senior party leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Mahila Congress chief Shobha Ojha told a news conference in New Delhi on Monday that if the Modi government and BJP fail to respond to charges levelled by two news portals by Tuesday evening, Congress' women's wing would announce a "country-wide action-plan of protest against Modi". They also reiterated the demand for probe by a sitting or retired judge of the Supreme Court into the allegations.

I&B minister Manish Tewari joined his party colleagues in attacking Modi. Tewari asked why no personal security officer was provided if the woman in question was being protected at her father's behest. "BJP claims lady was protected at father's behest. Was threat assessed? Why not PSOs provided?" Tewari posted on Twitter. "Why court the ignominy of being the stalking ‘Sahebzada'," asked Tewari, obviously trying to get back at Modi who calls Rahul Gandhi "Shehzada".

Joshi and Ojha said none of the questions asked by Congress on Sunday to Modi, his government and BJP "have been answered".

"The issues involved are violation of various rules, violation of civil liberty and a young woman's right to privacy. It is also a question of violation of the Constitution by the very Gujarat ministers who have assumed office by taking an oath to uphold the Constitution. All that we heard was BJP spokesperson responding by asking vague questions. They claim a senior civil servant was harassing the lady. In that case, why no personal security was given to the lady and instead, the state government started tapping and taping her own phones? Gujarat is showing clear sings of dictatorial tendencies," Joshi said.

"Modi now says at his meetings that women form a shield to him. I ask him why did he betray the trust of women of Gujarat? If Modi, Amit Shah and BJP fail to answer our questions by Tuesday evening Mahila Congress will announce a nation-wide action plan of protest. Other women organisations too are in touch with us," Shobha Ojha said.

Two investigative portals, Cobrapost and Gulail, had claimed on November 15 that Amit Shah, the former home minister of Gujarat and Modi's e aide, had ordered illegal surveillance of a woman at the behest of his 'saheb'.

NOT PART OF FAKE ENCOUNTER PROBE

The CBI, which is in possession of the snooping tapes since April, has not probed it because the tapes have nothing to do with the fake encounter cases of Gujarat being probed by the agency, a CBI official said.

The MHA is also cold to the idea of ordering any probe, with one official saying that giving orders to a state police for phone taps of a number registered in that state was the prerogative of the state home secretary and the Centre was not involved in it.

"This seems to be a case of illegal tapping where no permission was taken," an MHA official said.