BJP evasive on Pegasus, to blame for logjam: Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress on Thursday blamed BJP for the logjam in Parliament and said the government was “avoiding” discussion on the use of Pegasus spyware since it has “much to hide”.
Accusing BJP MPs of “collectively insulting” Parliament with their conduct in the meeting of the House panel on information technology on Wednesday, which had to be postponed after high drama and some name calling, Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Singhvi said opposition would cease its protests if only the government would agree to discuss the use of Pegasus spyware.
“I am making a proclamation here, you start the discussion in Parliament today and by tomorrow we will discuss everything else. Why are you avoiding Pegasus?” Singhvi said.
“The government is not only hiding, they have much to hide, they have no answers, they have no basis for not even having a discussion inside Parliament … The government is avoiding a discussion in Parliament as it knows that we will pin them down,” he said.
On Thursday, Congress also convened a joint meeting of its parliamentary party groups in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, with senior MPs Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Jairam Ramesh, Digvijaya Singh, K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram, Manish Tewari, Manickam Tagore, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Shashi Tharoor, Ambika Soni and K Suresh in attendance.
Kharge said the opposition’s only demand was a discussion on Pegasus surveillance in Parliament, in the presence of PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah. “Pegasus is being discussed in more than 50 countries. What is there to discuss, the home minister should come to the House, discuss, give replies to questions. After that, it will be up to us to take further steps,” he said.
“We have taken MPs views on future strategies. They want a discussion on Pegasus. Prime Minister and home minister’s presence is necessary during the discussion. This issue comes under the ministry of home affairs. Probe on Pegasus is being done in other countries including France and Germany, than why not in India,” the LoP said.