WATCH: TMC MP snatches IT Minister's papers; tears & throws at RS Chairman over Pegasus

Day 4 of the Monsoon session kickstarted on a rather dramatic note with Leaders of the Opposition raising slogans over a gamut of issues, including the 'Pegasus Project' report. If Opposition leaders would have stopped just there, it would have still been fine but things turned for the worse when Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw rose in the Rajya Sabha to give a clarification on the snooping claims. Even before Vaishnaw could begin speaking, Trinamool Congress MP Shantanu Sen, as is seen in the video, snatched his papers, tore, and flung them at Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, taking everyone by surprise. 

TMC MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, when caught off guard outside the Parliament, and asked about the incident, conveniently averted the questions. 

Political Parties react

Bharatiya Janata Party came forward to condemn the act. Speaking to the media outside the Parliament, party MP Swapan Dasgupta said, "He was making a statement, you had a right to question him after that but instead of going in for a debate, is this the type of hooliganism we see inside the House? This is completely against all norms, I think it should be condemned outright." Another party MP, Mahesh Poddar reminisced the post-poll violence, which brought the TMC to the receiving end of a lot of backlash for the events that unfolded after the declaration of the results on May 2, in line with Mamata Banerjee's claim 'Khela Hobe'. The leader said, "When they can kill their opponents, they can do anything." He further went on to predict, "Today they snatched paper & tore it. It won't be a surprise if they tear clothes tomorrow."

The Opposition parties, however, gave the Trinamool Congress MP the benefit of doubt. While Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal said, "I was late and could not see the whole thing", Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha said, "They pulled the paper, they didn't tear."

NSO Group issues 'last statement' on Pegasus report

The uproar of the Opposition in the Pegasus row comes despite the makers of the software, the NSO Group time and again refuting all claims.  In what it referred to as the 'last statement' in the matter, the Israeli-based firm reiterated that the numbers in the list are not related to the NSO group. It added that any claim that a name in the list is related to a Pegasus target or Pegasus potential target is 'erroneous and false'. 

The list being referred to allegedly contained 50,000 phone numbers which has been linked to snooping using Pegasus, from which certain numbers purportedly belonged to persons- including  40 journalists, three major opposition figures, one constitutional authority, two serving cabinet ministers, current and former heads, and officials of security organizations and businessmen in India. This kicked up controversy within and outside the Parliament, with the government calling it nothing but a case of 'sensationalism'. 

(Credit-ANI/PTI)