Pegasus row: Mamata ups the ante, says BJP wants to turn India into surveillance state

July 21, 2021

Launching a blistering attack on the BJP over the Pegasus Project reports, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the saffron party wants to “turn India into a surveillance state instead of keeping it a democratic country”.

“Our phones are tapped. I have put a tape on my phone camera now. Pegasus is dangerous and ferocious. Sometimes I cannot talk to anyone. I can’t even talk to the chief minister of Delhi or Odisha,” Banerjee said while addressing a virtual gathering to mark Martyrs’ Day on Wednesday.

Pegasus Project reports have stated that the database of possible targets chosen for surveillance included the number of senior TMC leader and Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

She added, “Spygiri is going on and BJP has bulldozed our federal structure. Phones of ministers and judges are being tapped. They have finished the democratic structure. Pegasus captured the election process, the judiciary, ministers and media houses. Instead of a democratic state, they want to convert it into a surveillance state…You are paying too much money for spying. We should also plaster the Centre, otherwise our country will get destroyed.”

Banerjee also appealed to the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognizance of the alleged surveillance operation using the Pegasus spyware. She also said the second wave of the pandemic marked the “monumental failure of the Modi government”.

The Martyrs’ Day rally on July 21 is the Trinamool’s flagship annual political event which draws massive numbers to the heart of the city for the keynote address by the party chief. The day is observed to commemorate the 13 West Bengal Youth Congress workers who were killed in police firing during a demonstration led by Mamata, then a firebrand Youth Congress leader, on July 21, 1993.

TMC’s Martyrs’ Day rally on Wednesday was unlike any other in the recent past with the event being streamed virtually, and the party using it as a launching pad in its project to extend its footprint beyond Bengal with an eye on the Lok Sabha polls.

Banerjee on Wednesday issued a clarion call to all opposition parties of the country to form a united front to fight against BJP and to “save democracy” in India. Opposition parties cannot afford to lose time and should start planning from now for the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, she said. “Ek saath hoke gathbandhan taiyaar karein, age barein, main ap logo ke saath ek hoke worker ka maafik ek saath larenge (Come together to form a united front. I will work together with you),” she added.

Banerjee further said, “I will be in Delhi next week and I want to meet the opposition leaders during the ongoing Parliament session. I propose you call a meeting of opposition leaders between 26-28th of this month. We are keen to attend it.”

Thanking the people of Bengal for the overwhelming mandate in her favour in the Assembly polls, she said, “We want to congratulate the people of the country and my state. We fought against money, muscle, mafia power and all agencies. Despite all odds, we won because people in Bengal voted for us and we received blessings from people in country and world.”

Giving a twist to her victory slogan ‘Khela Hobe’ (The game is on), Banerjee said one game has happened in Bengal and “another game’s afoot”.

“We will declare August 16 as ‘Khela Divas’ in Bengal. We will give footballs to poor children…The real ‘khela’ will happen in all states until BJP is removed from the country. Today, our freedom is at stake. BJP has endangered our liberty. They don’t trust their own ministers and misuse agencies,” she added.