AP govt tapping phones? Ex CM Chandrababu Naidu urges PM Modi to order inquiry

The former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday alleged that the ruling YSRCP, led by chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, was resorting to massive phone tapping in order to perpetuate and foist their 'Jungle Raj' on all sections of the people in the state.

Raising these concerns, Naidu urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an inquiry by a competent authority of the Government of India into the alleged massive tapping of phones in Andhra Pradesh.

"The centre should take stringent action so as to prevent the Jagan Reddy-led Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) and some private persons from resorting to such illegal activities that pose a threat to national security," he said.

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'YSRCP is using illegal tactics'

In a letter to PM Modi, the TDP chief said that the ruling party in AP and private individuals were using sophistical technology and illegal software to tap the phones of opposition leaders, advocates, journalists, and social activists.

"This is a violation of the Articles 19 and 21 that provide for fundamental rights of citizens. The ruling YSRCP is using illegal tactics to protect and preserve its power by intimidating and blackmailing the opponents and dissenting voices. These illegal activities are posing a serious threat to the right to privacy in the state," Naidu stated.

Chandrababu told the Prime Minister that even private individuals were using cutting edge technology and equipment to unlawfully tap the phones. |If these nefarious activities are not put to an end, it will proliferate and emerge as a bigger threat to national security and sovereignty of the country as a whole. If the governments and private persons involved in such illegal activities are not restrained, they will attack and undermine the democratic institutions that were painstakingly built over decades of hard work in the country," he warned.

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Stating that the YSRCP was already misusing its power to destroy institutions, Naidu deplored that systematic efforts were being made to deny fundamental rights and perpetuate oppression.

"As a result, the overall administration came off track in AP due to ongoing attacks in investments and pro-people policies. As per the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (Sec 5 (2)) and Information Technology Act 2000 (Sec 69), phone tapping is to be strictly used only in times of a threat to national security or the country's sovereignty or to national integration or when friendly relations with foreign countries are under threat," he said in his letter.

Naidu told the PM that in Andhra Pradesh, many Constitutional institutions are under attack since the YSRCP came to power. "Systematic attacks are made on the State Election Commission (SEC), AP Public Service Commission (APPSC), and other institutions. Threats were being given to Opposition leaders, advocates, media, social activists, and all those who raise a dissenting voice against the ruling party's excesses," he said.

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