When political allegations run out of substance, perhaps it is time to blame the mobile phone. Rahul Gandhi has now discovered a new villain in his ongoing battle against Narendra Modi, his own smartphone. According to the Congress leader, the Indian Prime Minister is getting his phone tapped. One wonders whether the next press conference will feature Rahul complaining that Modi is also reading his WhatsApp forwards and checking his missed calls.
During an Instagram question-and-answer session on November 13, Rahul Gandhi displayed his mobile phone and suggested that the Prime Minister knew what was stored on it because his conversations are being monitored. One would naturally expect such a sensational allegation to be accompanied by some sensational evidence. But then, this is Rahul Gandhi. The allegation has obviously arrived, the evidence seems to be taking some time to arrive.
Rahul Gandhi did not produce any forensic report, technical assessment, or independently verifiable evidence to establish that his phone was actually being tapped. Apparently, in Rahul Gandhi’s world, holding up a smartphone is sufficient proof of a surveillance operation.
But before making such allegations, perhaps Rahul Gandhi should revisit the record of the Congress-led UPA government. After all, phone-tapping controversies were hardly unfamiliar territory during his party’s decade in power.
In April 2010, allegations emerged that the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) had tapped the phones of several prominent political leaders. The controversy created considerable uproar, forcing then Home Minister P. Chidambaram to offer an explanation. The government denied authorising the tapping of political leaders’ phones.
And then there was the rather uncomfortable episode involving none other than Pranab Mukherjee, who was Finance Minister at the time. In 2011, Mukherjee wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking an investigation after 16 suspicious adhesive patches were discovered in his North Block office and those of his colleagues. He suspected possible surveillance. The Intelligence Bureau investigated the matter but reportedly found no recording devices and did not establish that espionage had taken place.
So, while Rahul Gandhi is busy suggesting that the Modi government has developed a special interest in his telephone conversations, perhaps he should remember that surveillance controversies also haunted the government his own party ran for ten years.
Nobody should take allegations of illegal surveillance lightly. If Rahul Gandhi has evidence, he should submit it to the appropriate authorities and demand an independent investigation.
But until then, perhaps the country can be spared another episode of political theatre featuring a smartphone as the principal witness. Let us see if Rahul Gandhi submits any evidence to substantiate his claims.
