The Congress will be holding press conferences nationwide tomorrow (Wednesday) on the 'Pegasus' spyware issue that has taken the country by storm since the report by 'The Wire' exposed it a few days ago.
AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal, in a statement, said that Congress state units will also stage a protest march to Raj Bhavans across the country on Thursday (July 22) demanding Supreme Court-monitored judicial enquiry on the 'Pegasus Project'.
"Latest revelations today reveal that telephones of former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his office staff were also hacked. It has been also reported that the spyware 'Pegasus' was also being used to hack cell phones in the run-up to the 2019 General Elections to Parliament," he said.
"'Pegasus' spyware and all NSO products are exclusively sold to Government only. It is thus, clear that the Government of India and its agencies bought the spyware to hack the phones of opposition leaders, journalists, lawyers and activists," he further said.
"In this regard, the party has decided to hold nationwide protests across the country demanding Supreme Court-monitored judicial enquiry on Spyware Pegasus and resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah," it added.
According to the report by The Wire, names of over 40 Indian journalists, many of whom covered matters related to Defence, Home Ministry, Election Commission and Kashmir among others, appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware.
The report stated that these journalists worked for news organizations including Hindustan Times, The Hindu, India Today, Indian Express and Network18.
Refuting the claims in the report, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said there is 'no substance' in the media report regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp, adding that the report was an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions
He reiterated that it can't be a coincidence that the report appeared a day before the commencement of the monsoon session of Parliament.
Further, the minister said that any form of illegal surveillance isn't possible with "checks and balances in our laws and robust institutions."
