The Opposition parties stepped up offensive against the Centre over new revelations on the use of Pegasus to destabilise the Congress-JD (S) Government in Karnataka by tapping the phones of HD Kumaraswamy, the then Deputy Chief Minister Parameshwara, and former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah.

The Congress said the BJP fears that whatever they did against democracy will come out through these revelations, and that is why a discussion on the matter is not yet allowed in both the Houses.

Taking to reporters here on Tuesday, senior Congress leaders Siddharamaiah, DK Shiva Kumar, Mallikarjun Kharge and Randeep Singh Surjewala, said Operation Kamal was a planned effort to steal democracy away from the people of the country. “The connection is now clear that the BJP used Pegasus spyware to destabilise elected State governments,” said Surjewala.

Kharge said the method was being used to weaken institutions. “The government is not just snooping around private citizens. Now, it is clear that things have gone beyond,” said Kharge, and added that the issue will be taken up in both the Houses.

Surjewala added that Modi Government killed democracy. “They have indulged in anti national activities. They misused Pegasus to destabilise the Congress-JD(S) government. We fear that the same software might have been used to dethrone elected governments in Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur or Goa. We are waiting for the revelations,” he said. Siddharamaiah said the alliance government was formed after the BJP could not prove majority on the floor of the House. “Yedyurappa started Operation Kamala. He could move 17 MLAs from the alliance and they supported the BJP later.

This was supported by Modi. He supported Yedyurappa to topple our government,” Siddharamaiah added. The Left parties also demanded a thorough probe into the issue. The National Secretariat of the CPI said it is shocked to learn that Israeli spy software Pegasus has been snooping into a number of phones of Opposition leaders, journalists, activists and numerous others.

“The Modi government is in good relations with the government of Israel. People are questioning how such surveillance can be conducted without the knowledge and consent of the Indian government. Truth should come out. Indian Constitution grants right to privacy to all citizens and of late even the Supreme Court has upheld this right. The Modi government, since it came to power, has been continuously attacking the Constitutionally-guaranteed rights of citizens and states in order to push its anti-people and anti-federal policies,” said the party.

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