The Congress party workers, led by Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra, staged a massive demonstration outside the Raj Bhawan here on Thursday, demanding the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and a judicial inquiry into the Pegasus snooping controversy.
Mr. Dotasra said the snooping episode amounted to violation of the right to privacy enshrined in the Constitution and the use of Pegasus spyware, developed by an Israeli firm, had endangered the country’s security. The government had illegally hacked the phones of those occupying high constitutional offices as well as journalists and activists, he said.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Shah have turned out to be the world's biggest spies by their conduct,” Mr. Dotasra said, addressing the protesters. He said Mr. Modi had not fulfilled any of his promises made before coming to power.
Several ministers including B.D. Kalla, Raghu Sharma, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, and Subhash Garg, Congress party's chief whip Mahesh Joshi, and a large number of Congress MLAs took part in the demonstration.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said in a statement that the income tax raids on the offices of two media institutions in several States was a “brazen attempt” to suppress the voice of media. “The Modi government cannot tolerate even an iota of its criticism. Due to its fascist mentality, the BJP does not want to see the truth in a democratic set-up,” Mr. Gehlot said.
Mr. Gehlot said the Modi government, by indulging in such actions and gagging the media, wanted to convey the message that if the media did not become “Godi Media” (embedded media), then its voice would be suppressed.