Centre likely to make statement on Rahul Gandhi 'snooping' issue in Parliament

New Delhi: The Central government is likely to make statement on Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi "snooping" issue in Parliament on Monday. Earlier, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi briefed Minister of State Home Kiren Rijiju on the alleged snooping of Rahul.

Congress leaders have accused the Narendra Modi government of "snooping" on opposition leaders while BJP dubbed the charge on Congress vice president as "atrocious".

The government rubbished allegations of "snooping" and clarified that a total of 526 important leaders including former prime ministers HD Deve Gowda, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh have been profiled by security agencies keeping in view the threat perception. Some other leaders whose security profiling has been carried put regularly are Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Rajya Sabha.

Jaitley said that DSpecial Branch of Delhi Police carries out the security profiling which has been a regular feature for well over two decades. He added that the present security profiling performa has been in force since 1999.

The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been at loggerheads ever since a team of Delhi Police visited Rahul Gandhi's residence to collect some information. "The present government has much to answer when it comes to right of privacy of citizens. They are now trying to do it everywhere what was happening in one state. Both Modi and Amit Shah are now here. It is not confined to one person. It is much deeper. The practice that they had adopted in Gujarat, they want to carry it out now every where," party spokesperson Anand Sharma said at the AICC office in Delhi on Sunday.

He had also justified his remarks in an interview, claiming that senior opposition leaders' phones are being "tapped" and surveillance is being carried on them. Asked whether he has any proof to back his allegation, Sharma said, "Letters are not sent for phone tapping to political leaders, judges and others. It can be proved only if the Prime Minister, Home Minister give letters to Opposition leaders regarding their phone tapping."

In Hyderabad, BJP trashed the Congress allegation of snooping on Rahul Gandhi, saying the opposition party was bereft of issues and raking up non-issues.

"This is absolutely an atrocious charge by Congress and there is nobody snooping. Congress people don't know where Rahul is. So, how we will snoop? That's not the issue," Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters. He was reacting to a query over the Congress accusing the Narendra Modi government of carrying out "political espionage" and "snooping" following the visit of a Delhi Police team to Rahul Gandhi's residence.

"It's a routine police procedure to which they (Congress) are over-reacting. I think Congress has lost the plot, and they are bereft of any issue. They have no public issue and therefore they are raising such issues which are non-issues," the senior BJP leader asserted.

The Congress spokesperson said that leaders of Opposition had raised the issue of their phones being tapped in the last session as well and the Home Minister said there is no such thing.

While Delhi police had on Saturday itself rejected allegations of snooping, saying it was a routine exercise of being in touch with dignitaries, Congress has accused the Modi government of carrying out "political espionage" on Rahul Gandhi and demanded a "comprehensive explanation from no less than the Home Minister and the Prime Minister.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said Delhi police officials, who visited the party Vice President's residence, had made "unwarranted and weird" enquiries about him.

Youth Congress workers had protested outside the residence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh over the alleged "political espionage".

BJP had hit back at Congress saying the opposition party has the habit of seeing conspiracies even in "routine" matters and considered itself above the law.

Rahul Gandhi is on a sabbatical since the start of the Budget session of Parliament on February 23. Some police officials went to his residence on March 12 and reportedly asked how he looks like and what the colour of his eyes is etc.

(With inputs from PTI)