YSRCP rebel MP Raghurama Krishna Raju on Wednesday statred that phone tapping is an assault on ones personal freedom and that the issue of phone tapping falls under the purview of the Union Home Ministry.
Raju also reminded that Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had ordered the CBI to investigate the alleged illegal tapping of phones of politicians and bureaucrats by the state police during the previous Congress-JD(S) coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy.
‘The Karnataka Chief Minister also stated thar the matter comes under the purview of the Union home ministry. It is wrong to say that the issue of phone tapping does not come under the jurisdiction of the Union Home Ministry,” Raju stated.
He also reminded that the Ministry of Home Affairs had asked the Rajasthan government to send a report on the allegations of phone tapping in a larger
conspiracy to topple Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s government.
“Phone tapping can only be done by authorised agencies as per due process of law and subject to approved safeguards and SOPs,” Raju who had recently alleged his two mobile phones were being illegally tapped for the past few months by the state Intelligence authorities of Andhra Pradesh.
He wrote a letter to Union Home Secretary A K Bhalla alleging that he was getting threatening calls from strange numbers displaying codes of Romania, Denmark, Switzerland, South Korea and Spain.
“For the last few months, I am getting frequent disturbances and noises in my mobile phones and I reliably learnt that our state Intelligence department is tapping my phones, which is a blatant violation of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution, he said in the letter to the Union Home Secretary.
Referring to TDP MLA JC Prabhakar Reddy who was diagnosed with the coronavirus, Raju asked the government to stop “corona cases” against its opposition leaders while urging the administration to shift the TDP leafer from Kadapa jail to a private hospital for better treatment. Prabhakar Reddy is currently in Kadapa Jail undergone tests along with other inmates where 317 prisoners of them tested positive for coronavirus.
“Such ill treatment of opposition leaders will being disrepute to the government, Raju cautioned.
Raghurama Krishna Raju also.demanded that the Jagan government give permissions to the public to celebrate the festival by erecting Lord Ganesha mandaps (pandals) in every street of the state as was the practice for decades.
The Lok Sabha MP dashed off a letter to the Chief Minister in this regard.
In the letter, Raju stated that Ganesh Chaturthi is the most significant festival for Hindus across the country and demanded that the government desist from imposing restrictions under the guise of Covid-19 regulations. “The festival is the most significant one for Hindus, imposing restrictions is hurting the sentiments of crores of people. They should be allowed to celebrate the festival without any restrictions,” Raju wrote.
Earlier, state BJP vice-president Vishnuvardhan Reddy had asked the government not to create hurdles in celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
In a video, Vishnuvardhan Reddy said, “The police and other officials are troubling the people regarding setting up of small pandals to celebrate the festival. The government should not play vote bank politics with festivals. It seems that the state government is thinking of Ganesh Chaturthi from religious angle only. But it is not merely a religious festival; it is a spirit to unite all sections of the society. People voluntarily celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi everywhere. It is their right. Officials should not infringe on their right.”
Although the government is yet to make its stand clear, it is likely it impose several curbs on the lines of the Telangana government which had announced several restrictions.
The KCR government appealed to the people not to erect Ganesh mandaps but confine the celebrations to their respective homes in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Telangana government has already banned installation of idols in public places and asked the people to perform Ganesh puja at home. In all likelihood, the Andhra Pradesh government will announce several restrictions.
