Hyderabad: Congress takes Centre to task over Pegasus snoopgate

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee election committee chairman Damodara Raja Narasimha on Thursday slammed the Central government over Pegasusissue and accused it of hacking phones of opposition party leaders.

Stating that the Telangana was being ruled by the dictators, Raja Narasimha charged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government with slapping cases on those who were questioning its policies under Section 124 of Indian Penal Code.

He made the remarks while addressing a protest programme of the party at Indira Park. The protest was held under the leadership of party's working president M Anjan Kumar Yadav.

The former Deputy CM criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded him to reveal details about the purchaser of the hacking software Pegasus from an Israeli company. He also accused the Telangana Intelligence wing of hacking phones of opposition party leaders. He asked the Centre whether the phone-hacking was done by India or an enemy country? He demanded the government to order an inquiry into the violations of IT and privacy laws by a committee of Supreme Court judges.

MLA Seethakka said phone hacking issue was a threat to the country's security. She alleged that the State and the Central governments were harassing those who were raising their voices against them by foisting sedition cases. She accused the BJP leaders of trying to come back to power by snooping on Congress leaders.

She charged that both Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were causing a threat to the country's security by sharing information with foreign countries. Targeting the State government, the MLA alleged that it had increased the land rates making it tough for people.