"Pegasus is in his mind, nowhere else": Anurag Thakur on Rahul Gandhi's fresh snooping charge at Centre

Lashing out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his claim of being snooped on through Israeli spyware Pegasus Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday said it is his habit to raise unfounded allegations and defame India on foreign shoresThe Union ministers statement comes in the wake of Rahul Gandhi claiming in a lecture at Cambridge University that his phone was being spied on through Pegasus and that he was warned by Intelligence officers to be careful about what he says on the callsI had Pegasus on my phone A large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones I have been called by Intelligence officers who told me Please be careful about what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff So this is the constant pressure that we feel Cases on the Opposition I have got a number of criminal liable cases for things that should under no circumstances be criminal liable cases Thats what we are trying to defend the Congress leader said in his addressHitting back at Rahul Thakur asked why he did not submit his phone for examination before the Supreme Courtappointed committee which was set up to look into the snooping allegations against the governmentAlso Read G20 can contribute to finding solution to global challenges of geopolitical tensions Anurag ThakurWhat was his compulsion that he could not submit his mobile phone before the committee to have it checked for Pegasus spyware He is already on bail in a National Herald corruption case What was there in his phone that he needed to hide Why did he and other leaders who Rahul claims were allegedly spied on not submit their phones It has become his habit to defame India on foreign shores Thakur saidWhile not naming billionaire investor George Soros who was recently in the news over his statement against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a security conference in Munich Thakur said It could be Rahul Gandhis hatred towards the Prime Minister that makes him raise such allegations But it also raises larger questions on the Congress agenda to defame the country repeatedly from a foreign land sometimes from a foreign friend Has Congress lost its faith in our constitutional institutions Will Congress continue to raise questions about Indias democracy Rahul Gandhi left no stone unturned in defaming India on foreign land the Union minister addedThakur said the Congress MP has Pegasus in his mind and nowhere elseAs the election results in Meghalaya Tripura and Nagaland showed yesterday the Congress has been wiped out again Hence this is just Rahul Gandhi ranting against our government in frustration He knew how his party was going to fare in the elections Pegasus is in his mind nowhere else World leaders are commending Indias growth and how the countrys image and position has been elevated on the global platform under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi If not someone else Rahul Gandhi could have listened to the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting on Thursday Maybe Rahul Gandhi could not accept this Melonis praise for PM Modi and neither could he accept the mandate of the people the Union Sports minister saidOn Rahul allegations of rising attacks on minorities in India Thakur said the Congress resorted to Divide and Rule when in power and while the country under PM Modi has shed its colonial baggage and mindset the grand old party doesnt seem to have done the sameThe Congress has divided people on the basis of caste religion and community which was born out of a mindset of Divide and Rule However the country has now shed this colonial mindset he saidMeanwhile dismissing the allegations raised by the Congress MP against the government on Friday Union Telecom minister Ashwni Vaishnaw told ANI What can I say on his remarks His needle seems to have got stuck somewhere He needs to move on from thisEarlier in his lecture Rahul Gandhi had shared a picture of himself in the presentation slide in which he is seen being held by police personnel claiming that the Opposition leaders were locked up for just standing in front of the Parliament House to raise some issues while also alleging that such incidents have happened relatively violentlyIn the Constitution India is described as a Union of States and that Union requires negotiation and conversation It is that negotiation that is under attack and threat You can see the picture that was taken in front of our Parliament House The Opposition leaders including myself were just standing there talking about certain issues when we were detained and put in jail Thats happened 3 or 4 times It has happened relatively violently You have also heard of the attacks on minorities and the press This does give you a sense of whats going on in India Rahul claimedIn August last year the Supreme Courtappointed committee to look into snooping allegations against the government concluded that the spyware was not found in the 29 mobile phones examined by it but malware was found in five mobile phonesReading the report of the committee the bench had said We are concerned about the technical committee report 29 phones were given and in five phones some malware was found but the technical committee says it cannot be said to be PegasusThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever