Congress ups anti-Modi ante in snooping allegation

Manish Tewari targeted Modi and BJP over alleged snooping on a young woman in 2009

Targeting Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on alleged snooping on a young woman in 2009, the Congress on Saturday said it was a "brazen assault on civil liberty by state-sponsored stalking" after the "Gujarat pogrom" and "fake" encounters.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari alleged it reflected the kind of state the BJP wanted and asked if this was its definition of freedom and liberty.

<b>‘Allegations baseless’</b>
Trashing allegations of illegal snooping on Modi, the BJP ruled out Congress demand for a rethink on its prime ministerial candidate.

"We had said we feared the dirty-tricks wing of the Congress would make such baseless allegations against Modi as the elections draw near," BJP President Rajnath Singh said.

He was responding to Law Minister Kapil Sibal's demand on Friday that the BJP would be forced to rethink its prime ministerial candidate as the charges were serious.

"Instead of making these allegations, Congress should clarify as to who is its candidate," Singh said.         

He wondered how the Cobrapost had got the call details when Indian Police Service officer G L Singhal, who did the illegal surveillance, had handed the records to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).     

"Singhal had got bail with CBI support. He was also involved in the Tulsi Prajapati encounter but still got bail," Singh said.    

The BJP President said the Cobrapost had said it could not make claims about the authenticity of the CD.  

"The girl's father has also given a statement that he had asked Modi, with whom he had family relations, for security for his daughter. The head of the government is responsible for ensuring the safety and security of the people. Modi was only performing his dharma," Singh said. Modi's close aide and former minister of state for home Amit Shah was on Friday accused of misusing his powers and police machinery for illegal surveillance of a young woman in 2009.

The allegations were made at a press conference, with the release of a half-an-hour of tapped telephonic conversations, purportedly between Shah and Gujarat IPS officer G L Singhal, which two investigative portals claimed had been filed before the CBI in the Ishrat Jahan murder case.