Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee yesterday dismissed charges that the government was spying on him as "bogus" even as the BJP insisted there was a "trust deficit" in the Congress-led ruling coalition
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee yesterday dismissedu00a0 charges that the government was spying on him as "bogus" even as the BJP insisted there was a "trust deficit" in the Congress-led ruling coalition.
"It's bogus. Don't waste your time on this," a visibly irritated Mukherjee told reporters outside his North Block office, a day after a broadsheet reported that the minister told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about a "serious breach of security" in his office.
Mukherjee had reportedly demanded a secret inquiry into the alleged planting of "adhesives" at 16 key locations in his office, suggesting that there was a possible surveillance attempt.
On Tuesday, Mukherjee, the number two in the government, had said that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had investigated the matter and "they found there was nothing".
But the Opposition was not satisfied. Calling it "India's Watergate", BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said the IB's reported argument that the adhesives found in Mukherjee's office were chewing gums was a joke and shocking.
In her tweet on Tuesday night, she said, "In either case it is a matter of grave concern. It is India's Watergate and needs to be thoroughly investigated. Is it that the government was spying on its own finance minister? Or is it a corporate house?
"If the government was doing this, it is an example of the growing mistrust between the ministers in the government.
And if it was being done by a corporate house, it is a big lapse in security. Both ways, it was very important to have a probe."
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar called the matter "serious".
"The nation will not be satisfied with Mukherjee's U-Turn that there is nothing serious involved. We demand a complete inquiry.
"There are so many agencies under the home ministry, he did not take their help," he added. "It is proof that there is a big trust deficit between the ministers in the government."
The discovery of the adhesives and grooves was first made by private detectives summoned by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, which reports to the finance minister.
According to the broadsheet, Mukherjee wrote to the prime minister in September last year after the discovery in his office and in other areas in his North Block office.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) said the story read like "an American thriller".
"It looks like an American thriller, bugging in (the) president's office, bugging in some official's office, that has come to India," said CPI's D Raja.
The Congress said it was disgusted with the BJP.
Party spokeswoman Jayanthi Natarajan said, "He (Pranab) has already called the charges 'bogus', so dismiss these charges as an attempt by the BJP to divert attention from their own internal degeneration and rebellion in their own ranks."
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