Conspiracy to hack phones with foreign help: Congress on reports of Centre looking to buy new spyware

The Congress on Sunday hit out at the Narendra Modi government after a media report claimed that the Indian government is looking to acquire a new spyware system, saying that a conspiracy to hack phones of people by taking foreign help ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls has come to the fore.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh's attack on the government came over a Financial Times report that said the Narendra Modi-led Indian government is looking for new spyware with a lower profile than the controversial Pegasus system and is seeking to spend up to USD 120 million on it.

"Modi government spied on citizens, Opposition, judiciary, election commissioner, journalists through Pegasus with foreign help before last elections. Now before the elections, once again conspiracy to hack phones of the people of country by taking foreign help has come to the fore," Ramesh said in a tweet in Hindi.

This is a direct attack on democracy, he alleged.

About a dozen competitors are expected to join the bidding process, stepping into the void created by the pressure on NSO, the Israeli makers of Pegasus, from human rights groups and the administration of US President Joe Biden, the Financial Times reported.