Sitaram Yechury attacks the govt over snoop gate allegations, cites 'right to privacy'

The Secretary-General of the Communist Party of India Sitaram Yechury, while talking about the phone tapping allegation made by the Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh on the Centre, said that politicians had this doubt in the mind since 2014. He reiterated that the ‘Right to Privacy’ is a fundamental right of every citizen. Yechury also blamed the Centre and said that this government believes in “espionage and spying”. 

Sitaram Yechury on snoop gate

Talking about the snoop gate allegation made by Anil Deshmukh, Sitaram Yechury said, “If Maharashtra's Home Minister is making such a revelation then obviously, all the doubts that were there in the mind of political leaders since 2014, were all correct. Indulging in this sort of spying and this sort of control over what others are doing is unacceptable in a democracy. Right to privacy is a fundamental right. The BJP by doing these things are violating these rights. I hope the investigations are concretised. This needs to be probed and the culprits should be punished.” 

Read: Maha govt probes wiretapping allegation, claims 'Fadnavis govt used Israeli spyware'

Anil Raut’s comment on snoop gate 

Accusing the previous MahaYuti govt in Maharashtra of indulging in snoop gate, Anil Deshmukh on Friday claimed, “During the BJP government's regime when the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections were held, the government had attempted to tap the phones of senior Congress and NCP leaders to know whom they were talking to and what they spoke. The allegations state that some state officials were sent to Israel on government funding to procure the software. The software was then used to spy on leaders by BJP government and we have initiated a probe into this”.  

Read: WhatsApp Pegasus spyware row: IT Minister says will launch security audit of WhatsApp

Sanjay Raut on snoop gate

Reacting to the NCP leader and Home Minister of Maharashtra, Anil Deshmukh’s comments on phone tapping and spying Sanjay Raut very easily said that phone tapping is common these days. He also blatantly alleged that the Home Ministry is habituated to keep an eye on their opponents. Raut later exuded confidence in MahaVikasAghadi and said that they formed the govt despite govt’s attempt to spy on them. 

Read: Sanjay Raut dares BJP to spy on him amid wiretapping allegation, invokes Balasaheb

Reacting to Sanjay Raut’s comment on the same issues, Sitaram Yechury further added, “That is a fact. They formed the government in Maharashtra despite the phone tapping. Whatever they (Centre) are doing, is not only phone tapping, they are doing all sorts of other things. I don’t know how many email accounts also they must have hacked. This is the government of espionage and spying. That is how they are surviving.”  

Read: 'Add PM Modi's photo in your state ads': BJP's Fadnavis writes to CM Uddhav Thackeray