Ministers are supposed to come up with facts, Parliament has right to know truth in Pegasus row: CPI MP
Jan 31, 2022
New Delhi [India], January 31 : Communist Party of India Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam on Monday said the House has a right to know the truth in the Pegasus row and ministers are supposed to come up with facts.
Viswam has given a notice of breach of privilege against Union Minister of Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw for his statements on the floor of the House regarding Pegasus controversy.
"(IT Minister) Ashwini Vaishnaw is a good friend, he is a good man. But what he said on Pegasus were not facts. The House has the right to know the truth and ministers are supposed to come up with facts. He was trying to hide government's face, facts on Pegasus," Viswam told ANI.
Congress leader KC Venugopal has also given a breach of privilege notice against Vaishnaw over the issue.
"The IT Minister misled the Parliament by stating that Pegasus was not connected with the Indian Govt. One of the most credible newspapers of the world says the Pegasus deal was done during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel. That is why we're moving privilege motion," Venugopal said.
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla demanding that a privilege motion be initiated against Ashwini Vaishnaw for "deliberately misleading the House on Pegasus issue".
Opposition parties had alleged that names of some political leaders including Rahul Gandhi and some Indian journalists appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance allegedly using Pegasus spyware after a report published in 'The Wire'.
Vaishnaw had responded to the allegations in Parliament and said "there is no substance behind the sensationalism".
