Only one word 'treason': Rahul Gandhi on Pegasus project; BJP slams Gandhi's remarks as "irresponsible", dares him to deposit his phone for probe

The Pegasus spyware row intensified on Friday with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for using the Pegasus ''weapon'' against India, its institutions and its democracy, and claimed that ''the only word for this is treason'', drawing a strong reaction from the BJP that described his remarks as ''irresponsible''. Gandhi, who also alleged that every phone he uses is tapped, demanded a Supreme Court monitored probe into the matter and also the home minister's resignation. Challenging the opposition party leader, BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore said he should submit his phone for investigation if he believes it was tapped, and asserted that no one's phone has been tapped illegally by the Modi government.

Also on Friday, TMC MP Santanu Sen was suspended from Rajya Sabha for the remaining period of the Monsoon session for snatching and tearing the statement of IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on the Pegasus issue, as Upper House Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu dubbed Sen's action an ''assault on the country's parliamentary democracy.'' Opposition parties have launched a concerted attack against the Central government inside and outside Parliament over the alleged snooping following reports earlier this week that nearly 300 mobile phone numbers including those used by journalists, activists, opposition leaders from India and even of union ministers figured in this list of potential snooping targets by Israel's NSO group which sells its Pegasus spyware only to ''vetted'' governments and government agencies.

Demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the snooping row, the CPI (M) asked if Prime Minister Modi's 2017 visit to Israel had anything to do with the matter. ''The 10 times hike in National Security Council budget coincides with 2017 Modi’s visit to Israel walking barefoot with Netanyahu on Mediterranean shore. Deal to engage Pegasus spyware for surveillance of Indians? JPC enquiry essential,'' CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted along with a snapshot of a purported hike in the NSC budget.

''Pegasus is classified by the Israeli state as a weapon and that weapon is supposed to be used against terrorists. The prime minister and the home minister have used this weapon against the Indian state and our institutions. They have used it politically, they have used it in Karnataka..,'' Gandhi told reporters.

''The only word for this is treason...The home minister should resign and a judicial inquiry by the Supreme Court should be conducted on Narendra Modi, as no one else can authorise the use of Pegasus… only the prime minister and home minister can authorise its use,'' he said.

Gandhi, who also participated in a protest on the Pegasus issue with other opposition leaders in Parliament complex, described himself as an ''open book'' and said he is not intimidated. Launching a counter-attack, BJP's Rathore said the Congress is determined to stall Parliament for one reason or another after being rejected twice by people in Lok Sabha polls of 2014 and 2019.

He also took a swipe at Gandhi, saying even a ''junior copy writer'' will not be interested in copying his phone's content as the Congress leader has nothing ''original'' to offer. Rathore said Gandhi's comments were ''irresponsible'' while adding that everybody has the right to say what they want in a democracy. The Congress leader should submit his phone to a probe agency, and investigation will take place according to the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he said. The law of the land prevails in India, and no one's phone is tapped illegally, he claimed, adding that if anyone has any doubt that some agency is doing it illegally, then he can complain and lawful action will be taken. ''We will now wait for Rahul Gandhi to deposit his phone for investigation to proceed,'' he said. In a series of tweets, Congress leader P Chidambaram said, ''on the scale of freedom, rank India against a liberal democracy like France and a stern democracy like Israel.'' ''France orders an investigation and calls a meeting of its National Security Council. Israel established a commission to review the allegations of phone surveillance. India denied that there was any unauthorised surveillance and refused to even debate the matter,'' the former Union home minister said on the microblogging site.

Apart from Gandhi, several opposition MPs took part in the protest against the government inside Parliament complex over the Pegasus snooping issue.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, party's leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K C Venugopal and Shashi Tharoor, DMK's Kanimozhi and Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi, were among those who participated in the protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue inside Parliament complex.

Carrying a banner which read ''#PegasusSnoopGate We demand Supreme Court Monitored Judicial Probe'', the MPs raised slogans like ''ye jasoosi bandh karo (stop this spying)''. Both houses of Parliament also witnessed frequent adjournments after opposition members raised slogans on the Pegasus snooping row and the farmers' issue.