Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government for alleged hacking of phones using Pegasus spyware, alleging that the ruling government at the Center monitored her meetings with election strategist Prashant Kishor. kept in.
“I told you that a few days back I was in a meeting with Prashant Kishor and a few others. They (government) have cloned the meeting. Prashant Kishor got his phone audited and it turned out that one of our meetings was known to him (government) through Pegasus spyware.
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The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said that the Pegasus espionage issue is worse than the Watergate scandal.
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of US President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974, leading to Nixon’s resignation.
Continuing her outrage against the government, Banerjee alleged that the ruling government did not trust its own people and was spying on ministers and senior officials.
“The phones of some RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) leaders were also kept under surveillance,” he alleged.
Emphasizing on “they are tapping multiple phones”, the chief minister said: “For example, if they are tapping Prashant Kishor’s phone, they can also clone my phone. The phone I use I think it’s useless now. Shall I put it in the deep fridge? Or do I destroy it? Could this be a solution?”
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“Pegasus spyware is a huge conspiracy. As a symbolic protest against this spying, I have plastered my phone,” she said.
The Center had earlier categorically rejected allegations of spying using Pegasus software on politicians, journalists and others in the Lok Sabha, with the opposition taking up the matter prominently in Parliament on the first day of the ongoing monsoon session.
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