BHUBANESWAR: Coming down heavily on the BJP-led Government at the Centre for ordering interception of information stored in personal computers, the Congress on Saturday accused it of misleading the country.“The Narendra Modi Government is known for 3 Ss - snooping, scanning and surveillance -- and utter disregard for privacy. The latest move of authorising 10 Central agencies to intercept computers shows that it is suffering from ‘big brother’ syndrome,” senior AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told mediapersons here.
Describing the Centre’s move as an assault on the right to privacy, Singhvi said the BJP-led Government has all along been making attempts to scan and control the lives of people and the latest ‘snooping’ order is a blatant move to put people under constant surveillance. Stating that the decision is a reflection of BJP’s fear of defeat in the 2019 elections, Singhvi said, “An insecure Government wants to control the people by unleashing fear as it can see the writings on the wall. BJP is afraid of defeat in the upcoming polls.”
Singhvi said the snooping move is nothing but a direct fallout of BJP’s defeat in Assembly elections held recently in five states. He criticised Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for claiming that rules for agencies to be authorised for intercepting information were framed in 2009 when the Congress-led UPA Government was in power.
Since Independence, the country has never witnessed such a blatant bid to infiltrate people’s privacy, Singhvi said adding Congress will oppose the move tooth and nail to prevent the BJP Government from converting the country into a surveillance system.Reiterating the demand for a JPC probe into the Rafale deal, Singhvi questioned the motive behind handing over the contract to a 12-day-old company instead of HAL. Stating that only a JPC (Jaldi Pakdo Chowkidar) probe can make things clear, he alleged that it is one of the biggest scams.
Alleging that the NDA Government inflated the price of Rafale fighter jet from ` 526.1 crore decided during the Congress-led UPA government’s regime, to `1,670 crore, Singhvi said people want to know in whose interest the cost of the aircraft rose three times within a few months. “Taking a decision to purchase 36 fighter jets for Rs 41,205 crore more is loot of the exchequer,” he said.
The Congress leader also criticised Odisha Government over KALIA Scheme announced for the farmers.
“Odisha Government has linked the scheme with religion after ignoring the basic issues affecting farmers for the last 18 years,” Singhvi said.