News Analysis India

Tag: BJP

  • Congress and Trinamool shake hands in Bengal ahead of Mamata Banerjee’s Delhi trip

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA: A new equation between the Trinamool Congress and the Congress appears to have emerged in West Bengal as the two bitter political rivals are coming closer on the issue of Pegasus snooping.

    A day before TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Delhi and her plan to meet the opposition party leaders, party’s national spokesperson Derek O’Brien shared Congress’s tweet displaying Bengal CM’s nephew and party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee as a victim of Pegasus spyware snooping. The vice president of Congress’s Bengal chapter Diptiman Ghosh said the party has already extended its hand to the TMC.

    O’Brien retweeted Congress’s tweet which said, “PM Modi took the adage, ‘keep your enemies closer’’ a little too far. #PegasusSnoopgate” The tweet, displaying Abhishek’s photo, said, “Aap chronology samajhiye. Target of Pegasus spyware. Who? Abhishek Banerjee-nephew of Mamata Banerjee. When? 2021. Why? West Bengal elections. Modi Govt’s insecurities are endless.”

    #KhelaHobe https://t.co/yi8bs0Q3XV
    — Derek O’Brien | ডেরেক ও’ব্রায়েন (@derekobrienmp) July 25, 2021

    The word “chronology” was used frequently by Union Home Minister ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections when he elaborated implementation of contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citzens (NRC). “First the CAA will come. All refugees will get citizenship. Then NRC will come…understand the chronology,” Shah had said repeatedly.

    The Congress in West Bengal also softened its stance on the issue of dealing with the ruling TMC. The state Congress president had earlier said that the party would not field any candidate against Mamata Banerjee in Bhowanipore Assembly by elections as the chief minister will have to get elected as she lost in Nandigram.

    On Friday, state Congress vice president Ghosh said, “Mamata Banerjee faced many challenges to reach her today’s position in politics. If she urged all anti-BJP political forces to come under one umbrella, we are all set to respond. On this issue, we should echo the same. We have already extended our hands to the TMC.”

    Mamata will leave for Delhi on July 21 and and she has announced her plans to meet leaders of non-BJP parties. She also requested NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Congress leader P Chidambaram to arrange a meeting while giving a call to uproot the BJP from the Centre in the 2024 general elections.

    TMC leaders admitted that the party’s political stance has been changed after the party’s stupendous victory in the recent Assembly elections and Mamata’s emergence as an anti-BJP leader in the country. “She is now eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and for this, she is gearing up for taking the TMC into the arena of national politics,” said a TMC leader.

  • Regional parties should form national front for 2024 Lok Sabha polls: Sukhbir Singh Badal

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Regional parties should come together and form a national front to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Sunday and asserted that his party’s story with the saffron party was over.

    Underlining that issues of farmers are at the core of the SAD ideology, Badal said his party can never compromise on these and, therefore, severed its decades-old alliance with the BJP and moved out of the government at the Centre over three contentious farm laws.

    “SAD is a farmers’ party and their issues are core of our ideology. Whatever may happen and whatever cost we may have to pay, we wouldn’t let these laws be implemented in Punjab,” Badal told PTI in an interview.

    The Centre’s three farm laws have triggered a protest by farmers.

    In September last year, Badal’s wife Harsimrat Kaur quit as Union minister in protest against the legislations.

    The protesting farmers claim these laws will do away with the minimum support price system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.

    Over 10 rounds of talks with the government, which has been projecting the laws as major agricultural reforms, have failed to break the deadlock between the two sides.

    Talking about the SAD’s new alliance with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Badal said the alliance between the two parties is permanent and that the Akali Dal’s story with the BJP was over.

    On the party’s future course of action, Badal said that the SAD is talking to various regional parties so that they all can come on one platform before the 2024 general elections.

    “There is a need for regional forces to get together. Regional forces are more connected to the ground and have better understanding of the people. We have been talking to various parties. Regional parties should come together and form a front before the 2024 general elections.

    And I am sure before 2024 this front will emerge as very strong force,” he said.

    Badal further said it would be a second front rather than a third front as the main opposition Congress is no more a pan-India party.

    The BJP will be the new front’s main target.

    In the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab, Badal said, farm laws will be the main issue for the Akali Dal and “if the party is voted to power, it will provide government job to a family member of all those farmers who lost their lives during the ongoing protest against the laws.”

    In addition, the government will provide free education to the children of the deceased farmers and pension to the parents of those who died young, Badal said.

    He also said the SAD will bet big on new and young faces and will try to field as many women as possible in the assembly elections slated for early next year.

    On a question about reports of alleged snooping on politicians, activists and journalists using Pegasus spyware, Badal termed it an attack on democracy and demanded establishment of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) headed by an opposition MP to probe the matter.

    “This entire snooping episode is an attack on the Constitution, democracy and rights of the people.

    It is completely unethical and a JPC should be formed headed by an opposition MP to investigate it,” Badal said.

  • Suvendu Adhikari’s Hindu rhetoric on Bengal violence deaths sparks divide in BJP

    Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s comment that people killed in the post-election violence in West Bengal were those who believed in Hinduism, blew the conch shells and worshiped Tulsi sapling and Goddess Durga, triggered a division within the saffron camp. 

    Many BJP leaders said the party’s Hindutva rhetoric has failed as is shown by the Assembly election results.

    They say it not only consolidated Muslim votes in favour of the ruling party but also the votes of a section of Hindus who are against politics on the lines of religion.

    “We also observed a virtual meet over the death of our 125 party workers since 2019. The post-poll violence was also on the agenda in the meeting. Many leaders raised the issue. The Leader of Opposition played the religious card identifying the victims of post-poll violence as Hindus. We do not support this because we already have taken a lesson from the recent Assembly elections in which our party went all out on the lone of Hindutva rhetoric,” said a BJP leader.

    While explaining the advantage that the ruling TMC bagged because of the saffron camp’s attempt to polarise electorates on the line of religion, the leader said, “As a result, the Congress and RSP failed to retain its traditional vote bank in Murshidabad, Malda and North Dinajpur districts, which are known as minority-dominated pockets. The TMC had a sweeping victory in these areas.”

    The ruling party’s vote-share went up to 48 per cent, which is 5 per cent increase compared to its performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

    The party “should abandon playing religious card for the time being,’’ said another BJP leader.

  • Nadda on Goa trip to take stock of BJP’s poll preparations

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  BJP chief JP Nadda will visit Goa over the weekend to take stock of poll preparations. Assembly elections in the saffron-run state are due in February. Nadda will review the party’s strength at booth levels. 

    The BJP on Friday said the party president will “guide the MPs and legislators in Goa during the review meeting”.  

    Nadda’s visit comes soon after BJP national general secretary (organization) BL Santhosh making the groundwork in the state during his meetings with party leaders in Goa. 

    Santhosh, with BJP national general secretary C T Ravi, who is in-charge for the party in Goa, held meetings with state ministers and MLAs to gauge the situation.

    The BJP’s challenge in Goa will be beating anti-incumbency against the party-led government, in the absence of former chief minister and Union minister, the late Manohar Parrikar.

    Nadda’s task is cut out, said a senior BJP functionary. He has to put the party in shape in Goa, where the saffron outfit will be challenged by Congress, which has traditionally been seen to be strong there. 

    On Friday, the BJP chief along with Union Minister for Home Affairs, Amit Shah, held meetings with Union ministers and MPs from Gujarat.

    The BJP is also bracing for the Gujarat Assembly elections later next year.

    The BJP’s message to MPs and ministers in the poll-bound states remains talking about the benefits of the Centrally sponsored schemes to the people on the ground.

  • Pegasus snooping row: Rahul demands Shah’s resignation, BJP calls it a plot

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the Pegasus spyware controversy, saying they have used it against India, its institutions and it’s no less than treason. BJP said he must submit his phone for investigation on the matter.

    Demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe and resignation of Shah, Rahul said Pegasus is classified by the Israeli state as a weapon and that weapon is supposed to be used against terrorists.

    “The prime minister and the home minister have used this weapon against the Indian state and our institutions. They have used it politically, they have used it in Karnataka and the only word for this is treason,” he told reporters.

    He claimed his phone has also been tapped and intelligence officials informed him and his friends about it.

    “I get calls from IB people who tap my phone. They call me up and say please be aware we are tapping your phone. My security people tell me that they have to debrief what I say. They have to report to their seniors everything I say. I am under no pretention that my phone is not tapped.”

    BJP’s spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore said no phone has been tapped illegally by the Modi government and that Congress is determined to stall Parliament for one reason or another. He said Rahul must submit his phone for investigation.

    He also took a swipe at Gandhi, saying even a “junior copy writer” will not be interested in copying his phone’s content as the Congress leader has nothing “original” to offer.

    Amid a row over the suspected Pegasus snooping, Gandhi had said earlier in the day that all his phones were tapped.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah allegedly used the Pegasus spyware against India and its institutions, and “the only word for this is treason”, Gandhi alleged.

    Rathore said Gandhi’s comments were “irresponsible” while adding that everybody has the right to say what they want in a democracy.

    Gandhi should submit his phone to a probe agency, and investigation will take place according to the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he said.

    The law of the land prevails in India, and no one’s phone is tapped illegally, he claimed, adding that if anyone has any doubt that some agency is doing it illegally, then he can complain and lawful action will be taken.

    “We will now wait for Rahul Gandhi to deposit his phone for investigation to proceed,” he said.

    The Congress cannot accept the country’s development and has been stalling Parliament’s functioning on one pretext or another, he alleged, accusing Gandhi of having a single-point strategy of not letting it function.

    “We are well aware of his record in Parliament,” the former Union minister said in a dig at Gandhi over his frequent absence from Lok Sabha, where he represents the Wayanad constituency.

    He often goes abroad on vacation during monsoon sessions, Rathore said, adding that the former Congress chief is now not letting Parliament function for “manufactured” reasons.

    The first week of the session has been all but a washout due to opposition’s protests over a host of issues, including the suspected Pegasus snooping and price rise.

    Opposition parties have accused the government of being behind the snooping.

    The government has called the entire Pegasus Project as “sensationalism” without having any substance and described it as a bid to malign India.

    Rathore claimed that while the country has been progressing, some forces have been trying to stall its development.

    The former Congress chief, whose name is also on the list of people whose phones are allegedly tapped, said Pegasus cannot be bought by just anyone as it can be sold only to the government of a country.

    “Pegasus was used against the Supreme Court, to scuttle the Rafale investigation. The home minister should resign and a judicial inquiry by the Supreme Court should be conducted on Narendra Modi as no one else can authorise the use of Pegasus,” he said.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Pegasus row: Opposition demands debate; Rahul raises the heat on snoopgate

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  With the Pegasus snoopgate pushing the government to the back foot, the Opposition raised the heat further as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home minister Amit Shah of committing ‘treason’ by deploying the military grade cyber weapon against citizens and institutions.

    In the Rajya Sabha, Trinamool member Santanu Sen was suspended for rest of the session as he snatched and tore up a copy of a statement on Pegasus from Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw the previous day. V Muraleedharan (BJP) moved a motion for suspension of Sen, which was accepted by voice vote. 

    Sen’s refusal to leave the House resulted in one of the day’s multiple adjournments. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge told the chair that he has given notice for suspension of business to discuss the surveillance. But, the Centre said the minister had already made a statement on it. “The Trinamool wants the Parliament to function. But we want discussion on Pegasus and scrapping of three farm laws immediately,” said Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien.

    No substantial business could be transacted in the Lok Sabha, as ruckus continued over various issues, including Pegasus. 

    Outside Parliament, Rahul Gandhi demanded a Supreme Court monitored probe on snooping and the resignation of Shah. But, BJP’s Rajyavardhan Rathore rebutted the charges, saying no one’s phone had been illegally tapped, adding Rahul should submit his cell phone to a probe agency for a thorough probe.

    Besides Gandhi, a host of senior Congress MPs like Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, party’s leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, K C Venugopal and Shashi Tharoor, DMK’s Kanimozhi and Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi, were present during the protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue inside Parliament complex.

    Carrying a banner which read “#PegasusSnoopGate We demand Supreme Court Monitored Judicial Probe”, the MPs raised slogans like “ye jasoosi bandh karo (stop this spying)”.

    Opposition parties have stalled proceedings in Parliament alleging the union government’s involvement in the alleged snooping following reports that nearly 300 mobile phone numbers including of journalists, activists, opposition leaders from India and even of union ministers figured in a list of potential snooping targets by Israel’s NSO group which sells its Pegasus spyware only to “vetted” governments and government agencies.

    The government and the ruling BJP have dismissed the Pegasus Project reports as concocted and evidence-less.

    The media reports have been published by The Wire in collaboration with 16 other international publications including the Washington Post, The Guardian and Le Monde, as media partners to an investigation conducted by Paris-based media non-profit organisation Forbidden Stories and rights group Amnesty International.

    Congress Friday claimed the grant allocation to the National Security Council secretariat went up to Rs 333 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 33 crore the year before, and asked if this hike was related to “purchasing” the Israeli spyware.

    Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the UPA government in 2011-12 had allocated Rs 17.

    43 crore to the National Security Council Secretariat in terms of grants.

    This amount was marginally increased to Rs 20.

    33 crore in 2012-13 and further to 26.

    06 crore in 2013-14, he said, noting that National Security Council Secretariat is largely concerned with administration and co-ordination.

    In the year 2014-15, when the Modi government came to power, the amount of grant to the National Security Council Secretariat increased to Rs.44.46 crore, further it came down to Rs 33 crore in 2016-17, Khera said.

    “But what raises serious red flags and concerns is that in the year 2017-18, a new sub-head was added to the National Security Council Secretariat called the Cyber Security Research and Development.

    Interestingly, that year, the grant allocation to the National Security Council Secretariat shot up from Rs 33 crores in the preceding year to Rs.333 crores in 2017-18, and the chronology here reflects that the Pegasus snooping allegedly began in the same year,” the Congress spokesperson alleged at a press conference.

    What explains the huge rise in the allotment of grants to the National Security Council Secretariat with 300 of the 333 crore being spent on Cyber Security Research and Development itself, Khera said.

    This trend has continued ever since with Rs.228.72 crores being allocated in 2021-22, he said, adding that allegations of snooping using Pegasus are from 2017.

    Referring to the media reports that eight phones of the then CBI director Alok Verma and his family members were put in the list of devices allegedly targeted for snooping using the Pegasus spyware by an unknown Indian agency soon after he was divested of the coveted charge on October 23, 2018, Khera said the expose reveals that prominent names from the corporate world and serving bureaucrats of the time, no less than those in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were also snooped upon.

    “Along with Mr Alok Verma, two other senior CBI Officers Mr. Rakesh Asthana and his colleague Mr A K Sharma’s phones were also snooped upon. This also seems to show a direct connection with the raging controversy on the Rafale deal because in October, Alok Verma, the then CBI Director had met with Prashant Bhushan and Arun Shourie who had personally handed over the complaint pertaining to Rafale,” he said.

    Posing questions to the government, Khera asked whether the government of India or any of its agencies buy Pegasus software or not.

    Pointing out that the government has not yet directly denied using Pegasus, Khera said if the government did not buy this software, which was the other government, from which country snooping on Indian citizens.

    Was this budgetary grant increased for the National Security Council Secretariat to purchase Pegasus, he asked.

    Mamata chosen Parliamentary party leader

    West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was unanimously chosen chairperson of the Trinamool Parliamentary Party, possibly to build her national profile before her high voltage Delhi trip. A seven-term MP, she is not a member of Parliament at present.

    Trinamool raps suspension

    “We consider Sen’s suspension as malicious and arbitrary. We condemn it. The order was without any justification and has no provision in law,” Trinamool chief whip Sukhendu Shekhar Ray said.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Tripura BJP MLA demands enact of laws for population control and cow protection

    By PTI
    AGARTALA: A ruling BJP legislator in Tripura on Friday demanded enactment of strict laws for population control and protection of cows.

    BJP MLA from Fatikroy constituency Sudhangshu Das said he would raise the issue of population control and protection of cows in the coming state assembly session in national interest.

    “Assam and Uttar Pradesh governments have taken initiative for enacting laws of cow protections and population control.

    I think the two demands should be implemented not only in Tripura or two or three states, but in the whole country for national interest.

    I will raise the issue in the next session of the assembly”, he told PTI.

    Das said the country is facing huge population boom, which is going “beyond the limit” and unless the governments have legal framework to tackle the ‘population explosion’ it would face serious problems which would have social and economic implications.

    He said, “Population explosion is a threat to the country. There has to be a law to tackle the problem. Today, India is heading towards a serious population boom but the resources are limited. We are limited to our geographical territory. So, all the state governments must enact laws to incentivise people who are resorting to family planning and accessing government facilities for guidance on the issues”.

    On cattle protection, he said, “not only cattle smuggling, each and every kind of smuggling is against the law. We must ensure zero tolerance for any kind of illegal activity. A section of misguided people in bordering areas are also used in several kinds of other illegal trade”.

    Das said that the Cow Protection Bill is also important to ensure that the sentiments of the majority people are not hurt.

    “In Hindu society, cows are revered as holy animals. If in a majority dominated area, people of some other faith slaughter a cow, it is against the social values of the majority people. This must be stopped and thus I am planning to bring a private member resolution in the next session of the state assembly on cow protection”, he said.

  • Suvendu Adhikari files petition before Calcutta HC seeking transfer of criminal cases to CBI

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Alleging that he is subjected to “political vendetta”, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari has filed a petition before the Calcutta High Court seeking transfer of all criminal cases registered against him by the state police to the CBI.

    Adhikari also prayed for an order of quashing of FIRs registered against him by the state police.

    The BJP MLA filed the writ petition on Thursday seeking transfer of the criminal cases against him to the CBI for an “impartial investigation”.

    Alleging that he is being subjected to “political vendetta” since he is an opposition party leader and the cases were registered against him with “false claims”, Adhikari also sought an order of the high court directing quashing of the FIRs against him.

    The state police and its Criminal Investigation Department (CID) are probing a number of cases that relate to Adhikari.

    Amid the nationwide row over alleged snooping activities with Pegasus spyware, the BJP leader stoked a controversy when he said that he got access to call details of Purba Medinipur district SP Amarnath K, prompting the police on Tuesday to file suo motu cases against him.

    Adhikari, during a party meeting in the district’s Tamluk area on Monday, had also publicly advised the local police chief to “refrain from doing anything that might lead to his transfer to Kashmir”.

    The Nandigram MLA narrowly defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in assembly elections held earlier this year.

    The district police is also probing a case of alleged pilferage of relief material in Purba Medinipur.

    The state CID is investigating an unnatural death of a police constable, who was part of Adhikari’s security team three years ago when he was a minister in the previous TMC government.

    A case of murder was instituted recently on the basis of a complaint of the constable’s widow and the probe was handed over to the CID by the state.

  • Trinamool bringing culture of violence to Parliament, says IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday hit out at the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after a copy of his statement was snatched from his hand during a ruckus that broke out in the Rajya Sabha.

    The TMC has a culture of violence and is trying to bring it to Parliament, the newly inducted IT minister said, asking what message was being sent to the rest of the country.

    “The kind of violence they (TMC) inflicted on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers in Bengal, that is the same culture they are bringing. What message are we giving to the country, to the next generation parliamentarians?” Vaishnaw asked.

    TMC MP Santanu Sen had on Thursday snatched a copy of Vaishnaw’s statement, while he was delivering his speech about the Pegasus Project matter in Rajya Sabha. Sen proceeded to tear it into pieces.

    A verbal feud followed between BJP and TMC MPs. Marshals intervened to bring the situation under control.

    Heated words were exchanged between Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and TMC MP Santanu Sen after the latter snatched the sheet from Vaishnaw.

    After the incident, sources informed that the government is planning to give privilege motion notice against Trinamool Congress MPs who “misbehaved” with the IT Minister.

    They said the government will also urge the chair to suspend Trinamool Congress MP Santanu Sen, who snatched the copy of Vaishnaw’s statement from him and tore it into pieces in the upper House.

  • Pegasus is Israeli weapon, Centre used it against India: Rahul, Chidambaram hit out at Modi government

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Attacking the Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Pegasus spyware is an Israeli classified weapon that the government has used against the institutions of the country.

    “Pegasus is classified by the Israeli state as a weapon and that weapon is supposed to be used against terrorists. The Prime Minister and Home Minister have used this against the Indian state and against our institutions,” said Rahul Gandhi.

    “They have used it politically…They have used it in Karnataka. They have used it to scuttle probes. They have used it against Supreme Court… They have used it against all the institutions of this country. The only word for this is treason. There is no other word for this,” added the Congress leader.

    Earlier today, Congress, DMK and Shiv Sena MPs protested against the alleged Pegasus snooping controversy in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises on Friday.

    The protesting MPs demanded a Supreme Court-monitored judicial probe in this matter.

    The MPs carried banners with the slogan “#Pegausus Snoop Gate”.

    Earlier on Thursday, TMC MP Santanu Sen snatched the statement on Pegasus matter from Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Rajya Sabha and tore it into pieces, amid the ongoing standoff over the Pegasus issue between the Centre and Opposition.

    The Opposition has alleged that names of several Indian politicians, journalists, lawyers, and activists have appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware. This comes following reports published in The Wire. 

    Backing Rahul, party leader P Chidambaram on Friday compared India’s response to the matter with that of France and Israel, saying while those countries are examining the allegations, India has denied any unauthorised surveillance and refused to debate it.

    The Congress on Thursday held protest marches at many places across the country demanding a Supreme Court-monitored judicial enquiry into the alleged snooping of phones using Israeli Pegasus spyware and the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah over the matter.

    The government and the ruling BJP have dismissed the Pegasus Project reports as concocted and evidence-less.

    On Friday, Chidambaram took to Twitter to say, “On the scale of freedom, rank India against a liberal democracy like France and a stern democracy like Israel.”

    “France orders an investigation and calls a meeting of its National Security Council. Israel established a commission to review the allegations of phone surveillance. India denied that there was any unauthorised surveillance and refused to even debate the matter,” the former Union home minister said on the microblogging site.

    On Sunday, an international media consortium reported that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders and one sitting judge besides scores of businesspersons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking through the spyware.

    The reports have been published by The Wire in collaboration with 16 other international publications including the Washington Post, The Guardian and Le Monde, as media partners to an investigation conducted by Paris-based media non-profit organisation Forbidden Stories and rights group Amnesty International.

    The investigation focuses on a leaked list of more than 50,000 phone numbers from across the world that are believed to have been the target of surveillance through the Pegasus software of Israeli surveillance company NSO Group.

    (With PTI Inputs)