'CM Baghel gets dream after many years...': Raman Singh on 'Pegasus in Chhattisgarh' claim

BJP National Vice President Raman Singh has taken a swipe at Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel over his remark on the Pegasus row. Earlier in the day, Bhupesh Baghel had alleged that officials from NSO Group, which manufactured the Pegasus spyware, had visited Chhattisgarh and contacted some people in the state. Baghel claimed that Raman Singh, the former chief minister of Chhattisgarh, is aware of the dealings between the surveillance technology firm and the government.

"We had received information that officials from the company that manufactures Pegasus came to Chhattisgarh and contacted some people. So we've constituted a probe committee. Former CM Raman Singh should reveal who they met with and what kind of deal was made," Baghel told the media.

Responding to Baghel's claims, Raman Singh in a rather jovial take said, "After many years, Bhupesh Baghel gets a dream that  there was an incident of Pegasus use."

He further said, "After a call from Sonia Gandhi, they come and say that phones were tapped & records were burnt. These are false & baseless allegations."

Government denies Pegasus report

Ever since the Monsoon Session had began, the opposition caused an uproar in both Houses demanding a probe into the alleged privacy breach that was unearthed by the Pegasus Project. The opposition parties have therefore sought a joint parliamentary committee probe into the matter. However, the government has constantly denied the spying allegations and hit back by saying that it surfaced a day before the Monsoon Session of the Parliament. Asserting that India was committed to a free speech, the Centre claimed that the questionnaire sent to it was 'founded on pre-conceived notions' and that the Centre's RTI response to the use of Pegasus was itself sufficient. However, a ruckus erupted in Parliament on Monday as the Centre categorically denied snooping on 300 citizens using the Israeli spyware.

What is the Pegasus row?

Several international and domestic media houses released a report claiming that 300 verified Indian mobile telephone numbers were allegedly spied upon using the Israeli surveillance software Pegasus, which has only 36 vetted governments as its clients. As per a 'leaked' database of 50,000 phone numbers globally which were allegedly the targets of snooping through Pegasus, numbers of those allegedly spied upon include over 40 journalists, businessmen, politicians and cabinet ministers from India. The target also includes the eight activists currently accused of the Bhima Koregaon case. The report claimed that the leaked numbers mainly belong to ten countries - India, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

NSO Group, the Israeli firm that developed and owns the spyware, has refuted all the allegations of the speculative and inconclusive report. Reportedly, NSO Group has stated that the list being circulated claiming to be of 'potential targets' is not associated with NSO in any manner.

According to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the purported Pegasus report says that the presence of a phone number in the data does not reveal whether a device was infected with Pegasus or subject to an attempted hack

"Without subjecting a phone to this technical analysis, it is not possible to conclusively state whether it witnessed an attack attempt or was successfully compromised. Therefore, the report itself clarifies that the presence of a number does not amount to snooping," IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in the Parliament.