Pegasus Spyware Row: Rajasthan CM Gehlot & Mayawati Seek Clarification, Question Govt's Silence

Gehlot demanded a clarification from the Centre over a media report claiming that India bought the Pegasus spyware from Israel as part of a defence deal in 2017.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot (Left), BSP chief Mayawati (Right) | File Photo: Getty Images

New Delhi: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi must address the nation on the Pegasus spyware row to end any confusion on the matter.

Gehlot demanded a clarification from the Centre over a media report claiming that India bought the Pegasus spyware from Israel as part of a defence deal in 2017.

“The Central government should give a clarification. If the government is clean, then the PM should himself address the nation,” Gehlot said after paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the secretariat in Jaipur on Shaheed Diwas, PTI reported.

“The Supreme Court is not able to do hearings on the matter on priority, which it should have done. Who should be blamed?” he asked.

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati also cornered the ruling dispensation on the issue.

“The Pegasus espionage case is making the Central government and the BJP go sleepless. In this very serious matter, there have been new revelations on a regular basis. Instead of giving reliable answers by being accountable and responsible towards the country, the silence of the Centre raises more questions. The government should disclose (the issue),” she tweeted in Hindi.

Mayawati also hit out at Union Minister General (Retd.) V.K. Singh for his “supari media” remark.

“At the same time, former army chief and Union Minister's ‘supari media’ remark on the new facts of Pegasus are very indecent, which proves the narrow mindedness of the government. India’s name in Pegasus case along with countries like Mexico, Poland and Hungary is no less a matter of concern,” she wrote on the micro-blogging platform.

The New York Times has in an investigation report titled “The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon” said the Israeli spyware Pegasus was sold to India.

“In July 2017, Narendra Modi, who won office on a platform of Hindu nationalism, became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel,” the report published in the New York Times on Friday said.

“For decades, India had maintained a policy of what it called ‘commitment to the Palestinian cause,’ and relations with Israel were frosty,” the report added.

The report further said Prime Minister Modi’s “visit, however, was notably cordial, complete with a carefully staged moment of him” and then Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu “walking together barefoot on a local beach”.

“They had reason for the warm feelings. Their countries had agreed on the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion — with Pegasus and a missile system as the centerpieces,” the report added.