Pegasus 'renamed' as Sanchar Saathi, govt spying on people: Uddhav

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday claimed the Sanchar Saathi app is another version of Pegasus spyware, and accused the BJP-led government of trying to spy on the people who voted it to power.

Instead of putting people under surveillance, the government must focus on how the Pahalgam attack took place in April this year, which claimed 26 lives, and how terrorists entered India, the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

The Communication Ministry's order, dated November 28, mandating all mobile phone manufacturers to pre-install Sanchar Saathi app in all handsets to be sold in India, as well as in existing devices through software update, has triggered a row. Concerns have been raised about possible snooping and that the app could be used to read messages that users exchange.

Facing criticism, the government on Wednesday withdrew its directive to quell rising concerns that the measure could have compromised user privacy or enabled surveillance.

Addressing his party workers at his residence 'Matoshree' in Mumbai, Thackeray said, ''You must have heard about Pegasus (spyware). It would install a virus (malware) in phones and spy. They (the government) have changed the name of Pegasus to Sanchar Saathi. They are spying.'' ''You (government) are showing mistrust in people who trusted you,'' he added.

Amid privacy concerns over the Sanchar Saathi app, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday asserted that snooping is neither possible nor will it happen with the app.

In a post on X, Thackeray's son and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray said, ''Only an unpopular dictatorial government, selected by the blessings of a compromised institution, would want to spy on its own citizens by means of forcing phone manufacturers to have a government application without citizens downloading it by their own choice.'' ''No free country in the world, with a true democracy will have it,'' the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Worli MLA added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)