Rahul Gandhi 'snooping' issue likely to dominate Parliament proceedings today: Reports

Image
ANI New Delhi
Last Updated : Mar 16 2015 | 9:07 AM IST

A miffed Congress Party is likely to seek answers from the NDA Government in Parliament on Monday over the visit of Delhi Police officials to the party office to seek details of Rahul Gandhi's physical appearance.

The Congress is expected to bring other opposition parties on board and demand a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the issue, media reports said.

On Sunday, the Congress alleged that some opposition leaders were also being "snooped" upon, and insisted that the matter was a serious enough nature to be discussed in Parliament.

"The present government has much to answer when it comes to right of privacy of citizens. They are now trying to do it everywhere what was happening in one state. Both Modi and Amit Shah are now here. It is not confined to one person. It is much deeper. The practice that they had adopted in Gujarat, they want to carry it out now every where," party spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters at the office of the All India Congress Committee in New Delhi.

Congress Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram and former union minister of state Shashi Tharoor termed the whole issue as "Snoopgate 2".

He said Mr. Modi needed to explain why the government needed details of a person protected by the Special Protection Group (SPG).

Delhi Police personnel visited Rahul Gandhi's residence last week and also sought details about his height and colour of eyes and hair.

A team, led by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Jatin Narwal, visited Gandhi's Tughlak Lane residence to enquire about the sequence of events.

The team also checked the pictures of the policemen who had visited Rahul's residence a couple of days ago and enquired about the colour of Congress leader's eyes and hairs.

The Delhi Police on Saturday said it was a routine security enquiry and that there was no malafide intention behind it.

As the news surfaced, the Home Ministry sought a report from the Delhi Police in this regard.

Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said Saturday, "Rahul Gandhi was not targeted by the police. It was a routine activity which is done to keep records of vulnerable personalities. Police also visited houses of Veerappa Moily, L K Advani, K Chandrasekhar Rao among others. There was no malafide intension behind seeking details about Gandhi."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the Congress of trying to politicize the issues.

In Hyderabad, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said Mr. Modi or Rajnath Singh were not involved in the police trying to find out details about Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul has been on a sabbatical since the start of Parliament's budget session on February 23.

*Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Smart Quarterly

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

SAVE 46%
*Complimentary New York Times access for the 2nd year will be given after 12 months

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Exclusive premium stories online

  • Over 30 premium stories daily, handpicked by our editors

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

First Published: Mar 16 2015 | 8:56 AM IST

Next Story