BJP, Congress harden positions on surveillance issue in Delhi

The Delhi government on Saturday stuck to its stand that no cabinet note on the ACB had been circulated.

The Delhi government on Saturday stuck to its stand that no cabinet note on the ACB had been circulated.

Delhi-BJP-chief-Satish-Upadhyay-centre-protests-with-party-leaders-outside-CM-Kejriwal-s-residence-on-Saturday-Sonu-Mehta-HT-Photo

“Terms like snooping etc are fictitious creations of vested interests to defame ACB,” said a Delhi government spokesperson.

Health and PWD minister Satyendra Jain also denied that the government is planning to buy surveillance gear for spying. “I don’t even know the meaning of the word ‘snooping’. If we have to strengthen the ACB then it will need things like cars, computers, stationary and other things. Like, I want new high-end equipment for the Quality Assurance (QA) team of the PWD. Modern equipment can ease your work,” Jain said on the sidelines of an inspection of a construction site.

Meanwhile the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress targeted the Delhi government over snooping. BJP leaders protested outside Arvind Kejriwal’s residence and burnt his effigy while the Congress circulated the 16-page cabinet note demanding an explanation from the government.

About 1,000 protesters including BJP MPs started a march at 10:30am from the trauma centre and once they reached near 6, Flag Staff Road - the residence of Kejriwal, police stopped them. Later, the police had to resort to water canons to stop the protesters. BJP leaders claimed that during the police action on demonstrators, former EDMC Mayor Ram Narain Dubey suffered injuries as he fell on a barricade and was taken to the Tirath Ram Hospital.