Adityanath slams Opposition for stalling Parliament proceedings over Pegasus snooping row

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday lashed out at the opposition parties for creating a "negative" atmosphere in the country and stalling the Parliament proceedings over the Pegasus snooping controversy and demanded that they apologise.

At a press conference here, the BJP leader also said it was because of the "negative attitude" of the Opposition that it did not allow issues concerning the common people to be raised in Parliament.

"For the past two days, the Opposition has been trying to vitiate the atmosphere of the country over the Pegasus issue and it only proves their sick mentality. Congress governments had been doing such things during their tenures and now the party is following the same while in Opposition," Adityanath said.

The chief minister accused the Opposition of indulging in "negative politics" during the time of the coronavirus crisis. The Pegasus spyware issue has rocked the Monsoon session of Parliament.

As political heat rose over allegations linked to the snooping row, the Centre on Monday categorically rejected them saying attempts were being made to "malign" Indian democracy even as the Congress and the BJP sparred and the main opposition party demanded the sacking of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

An international media consortium reported on Sunday that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders and one sitting judge besides scores of businesspersons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking through the spyware.