Modi, Amit Shah should clarify Pegasus allegations: Former BJP ally Shiv Sena

SHIV Sena member of parliament (MP) Sanjay Raut on Monday (19) said Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah should give a clarification over the reports of alleged snooping of several people, including journalists, through Israeli spyware Pegasus.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Raut, who is the leader of the Sena in the Rajya Sabha, said the reports showed that the country’s “government and administration is weak”.

“There is an atmosphere of fear among people. The PM and home minister should address the issue and clarify,” Raut said.

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On Sunday (18), an international media consortium reported that more than 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two serving ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders and one sitting judge besides many business persons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking through the Israeli spyware which is sold only to government agencies.

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The Narendra Modi government, however, rejected the allegations of any kind of surveillance on its part on specific people, saying it “has no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever”.

Raut said he had spoken to Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the opposition in the Rajya and the issue will figure in the house, among other issues, during the monsoon session of the parliament. “There was a phone tapping issue in Maharashtra which was raised by state Congress chief Nana Patole. Senior police officials were involved and a probe into it is underway. But in this case, a foreign company is listening to phone calls of our people, especially journalists. This is a serious matter,” Raut, who is also the Sena’s chief spokesperson, said. “I will not be surprised if Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's phone is also being tapped,” he said.

The Sena was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in 2019 following a tussle with the latter over the issue of sharing the chief minister’s post in Maharashtra on a rotational basis.

The Sena later formed the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (Maharashtra Development Front) government in Maharashtra with the support of the Indian National Congress and Nationalist Congress Party.