‘Phone tapping govt’: BJP accuses Siddaramaiah-led Congress of spying on governor’s phone in Karnataka Assembly | India News
New Delhi: The Karnataka Assembly was disrupted on Wednesday after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the Congress-led Siddaramaiah government of phone tapping.The House was in an uproar following comments by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil, who suggested that Governor Thawarchand Gehlot was acting on instructions received over a call from Delhi.
The controversy erupted during the debate on the motion of thanks in the governor’s address to the joint session of the state assembly. BJP MLAs have alleged that the Congress government has accessed details of phone calls received at the Raj Bhavan (Lok Bhavan), raising serious questions about surveillance and abuse of power.Last week, on January 22, Governor Gehlot refused to read the entire state-of-the-nation address to the joint session of the legislature and ended his speech with just three lines. The move drew sharp criticism from the Congress government. The governor objected to some references in the address critical of the Centre, including comments on the alleged “cancellation” of the UPA-era employment guarantee scheme, MGNREGA.Intervening in the debate on Wednesday, BJP MLA Suresh Kumar accused the state government of disrespecting the Governor and making baseless allegations against the constitutional authority. He noted that there have been instances in the past where governors have not read their entire addresses.Citing precedent, Kumar referred to January 2011, when the BJP was in power in the state. He said that the then Governor Hansraj Bharadwaj presented his speech to be considered as read in the joint session by the then Leader of Opposition, Siddaramaiah, who urged him not to read it, alleging corruption in the BJP government at the time.Reacting to this comparison, Law Minister HK Patil alleged that the current governor acted under instructions received in a phone call from Delhi.“After the Delhi call the Governor did not read the entire speech, we also have to talk about it now, as you said about the earlier incident (involving then Governor Bharadwaj),” Patil said.This remark triggered strong protests from the BJP bench. Suresh Kumar said the law minister was making a serious allegation and questioned how the government knew about the call to the governor. “Is the government tapping the phones of the Raj Bhavan (Lok Bhavan), to find out about receiving calls from the Governor from Delhi?” she asked.As BJP MLAs protested, chaos broke out in the House. BJP MLA Sunil Kumar alleged that Patil’s statement amounted to a confession. “How can this be tolerated? This is the second time the Law Minister has said this in Parliament. Phone tapping?” He saidIT/BT minister Priyank Kharge came to Patil’s defence, saying the law minister was only alleging that the governor was acting as a “puppet of the central government”. However, the BJP maintained that the statements raised serious doubts about surveillance at Raj Bhavan.Escalating the exchange, Kharge alleged that the governor had received a call from Keshav Kripa, the Karnataka state headquarters of the RSS. BJP members countered the claim that the Congress had “received a call from Italy”, intensifying the verbal spat.Sunil Kumar and other BJP MLAs reiterated their allegation that the state government had stooped to tap the Governor’s phone. “The Law Minister has repeatedly said that the Governor is receiving calls from Delhi. How did they know? If they have records, let them put it in the House,” he said, alleging that both Patil and Kharg were involved in phone tapping in the Lok Bhavan.Senior BJP leaders including Suresh Kumar and Sunil Kumar continued to accuse the Siddaramaiah government of surveillance and described it as a “phone tapping government”. Leader of Opposition and Ashok also supported this allegation.Responding to the allegation, Patil questioned why there was no clarification from the Governor or the Center after he first made the allegation last week. “What is the Home Ministry doing in Delhi? Shouldn’t they at least issue a press note that there is no communication between the Governor and the Home Ministry?” she asked.The comment led to a more heated exchange between the Treasury and opposition benches, with Ashok claiming that the statements of Patil and Kharg itself proved that phones in Lok Bhavan and RSS offices were being tapped. “Are our phones being tapped too? It’s a phone tapping government,” he said.As chaos continued in the House, Speaker UT Khad adjourned the Assembly for lunch.
