States » WestPosted at: Nov 13 2026 8:56PM


PM must apologise for phone tapping or face mass movement, says Congress

Mumbai, Nov 13 (UNI) Senior Congress leaders in Maharashtra, like Nana Patole and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, today condemned the BJP for allegedly tapping phones of Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders and threatened that unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologises, there may be no option but to launch a mass movement to dislodge the BJP government from power.
Speaking to media persons here, senior Congress leader Nana Patole said, "The BJP is playing low-level politics, where officials are made to tap the phones of opposition leaders in order to blackmail them. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should come forward and answer for stealing votes and tapping phones of opposition leaders. He must publicly apologise to the country. Otherwise, there may be no other option but to launch a mass movement and pull down the Narendra Modi government."
"The entire state knows that my phone was tapped. IPS official Rashmi Shukla, who had tapped my phone, was deputed to the centre when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government came to power in Maharashtra. After the BJP government came to power in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis brought her back to Maharashtra and rewarded her with a two-year extension as Director General of Police (DGP) of Maharashtra," senior Congress leader said.
Former Maharashtra state intelligence chief, IPS official Rashmi Shukla is known to be close to CM Fadnavis.
Targeting the BJP government for allegedly tapping the phones of Rahul Gandhi and opposition leaders, senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said, "Earlier, news of phone tapping of major opposition leaders using Israeli Pegasus software had come to light at the international level. Phone tapping using technology is possible, but such actions are impossible without directions from the highest level. It is impossible to tap the phones of major political opponents without the permission of the union Home Minister or the Prime Minister."
Significantly, Patole was one of the first major opposition leaders to allege that the BJP government resorted to tapping the phones of opposition leaders, way back on July 10, 2021, during the monsoon session of the state legislature.
The Maharashtra government had also formed a three-member committee to probe Patole's allegation about phone tapping, when he was Maharashtra Congress president.

Later, in May 2022, Patole, who was Maharashtra Congress president, filed a Rs 500-crore defamation suit in a civil court here against IPS officer and former Maharashtra state intelligence chief Rashmi Shukla and others for alleged illegal tapping of his phone.
After Patole sought a permanent injunction to stop the misuse of information collected through alleged illegal phone tapping, civil judge V B Gore had issued notices to IPS official Shukla and others.
Notably, the Mumbai police had also recorded IPS official Shukla's statement in connection with the case of alleged illegal tapping of phones, after which an FIR (first information report) was registered against IPS official Shukla by the Colaba police in Mumbai under the Indian Telegraph Act and relevant other sections of the law.
The action was taken after a complaint by senior police officer Rajiv Jain, who accused IPS official Shukla of having put the phone numbers of Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and NCP leader Eknath Khadse under surveillance.
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Tags: #PM must apologise for phone tapping or face mass movement# says Congress
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