10 parties meet to form Pegasus issue strategy

The meeting was attended by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, DMK’s TR Baalu and Kanimozhi, NCP’s Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant, Hasnain Masoodi of NC, BSP’s Ritesh Pandey, Kerala Congress, CPI(M), Revolutionary Socialist Party and Indian Union Muslim League.

Ten opposition parties, at meeting on Tuesday, decided to move “joint adjournment notices in the Lok Sabha” as a part of a united strategy to counter the government on the Pegasus snooping row.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (HT PRINT)

“We have now decided that there will be better coordination among all of us as the government doesn’t want to discuss the matter at all. We will now be giving joint adjournment notices in Lok Sabha,’’ said one of the leaders, who attended the meeting, requesting anonymity.

The meeting was attended by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham’s TR Baalu and Kanimozhi, Nationalist Congress Party’s Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant, Hasnain Masoodi of National Conference, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Ritesh Pandey, Kerala Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Revolutionary Socialist Party and Indian Union Muslim League.

The Pegasus row erupted last Sunday before the beginning of the current monsoon session after an international investigative consortium reported that many Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen and journalists were potentially targeted by Israeli company NSO Group’s phone hacking software, Pegasus.

Kharge alleged dictatorship prevails in the country. “(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is not ready to solve issues in a democratic manner. We are ready for discussions.”

The government has neither confirmed nor denied whether it has purchased the spyware but has rejected reports of snooping.

.