Pegasus row: Mamata ups the ante, says BJP needs to show India into surveillance state

Launching a blistering assault on the BJP over the Pegasus Project studies, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the saffron occasion needs to “turn India into a surveillance state instead of keeping it a democratic country”.
“Our phones are tapped. Pegasus is dangerous and ferocious. I cannot talk to anyone. You are paying too much money for spying. I have plastered my phone. We should also plaster the Centre, otherwise, our country will get destroyed. BJP has bulldozed federal structure,” Banerjee stated whereas addressing a digital gathering to mark Martyrs’ Day on Wednesday.
Pegasus Project studies have said that the database of doable targets chosen for surveillance included the variety of senior TMC chief and Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
Banerjee additionally appealed to the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the alleged surveillance operation utilizing the Pegasus spyware and adware.
Holding up her telephone, Banerjee stated, “I have put a tape on my phone camera now. But they tap everything — video and audio. Pegasus is dangerous. They are harassing people. Sometimes I cannot speak to anyone. I can’t even talk to the chief minister of Delhi or Odisha.”
She added, “Spygiri is going on. Phones of ministers, judges are being tapped. They have finished the democratic structure. Pegasus captured the election process, the judiciary, ministers and media houses. Instead of a democratic state, they want to convert it into a surveillance state.”
She additionally stated the second wave of the pandemic marked the “monumental failure of the Modi government”.
Thanking the individuals of Bengal for the overwhelming mandate in her favour within the Assembly polls, she stated, “We want to congratulate the people of the country and my state. We fought against money, muscle, mafia power and all agencies. Despite all odds, we won because people in Bengal voted for us and we received blessings from people in country and world.”

Giving a twist to her victory slogan ‘Khela Hobe’, Banerjee stated one recreation has occurred in Bengal and “another game’s afoot”.
“We will declare August 16 as ‘Khela Divas’ in Bengal. We will give footballs to poor children…The real ‘khela’ will happen in all states until BJP is removed from the country. Today, our freedom is at stake. BJP has endangered our liberty. They don’t trust their own ministers and misuse agencies,” she added.
The Martyrs’ Day rally on July 21 is the Trinamool’s flagship annual political occasion which pulls large numbers to the center of town for the keynote deal with by the occasion chief. The day is noticed to commemorate the 13 West Bengal Youth Congress staff who have been killed in police firing throughout an indication led by Mamata, then a firebrand Youth Congress chief, on July 21, 1993.
TMC’s Martyrs’ Day rally on Wednesday was not like some other within the latest previous with the occasion being streamed just about, and the occasion utilizing it as a launching pad in its venture to increase its footprint past Bengal with an eye fixed on the Lok Sabha polls.
Banerjee on Wednesday issued a clarion name to all opposition events of the nation to type a united entrance to combat in opposition to BJP and to “save democracy” in India. Opposition events can’t afford to lose time and will begin planning from now for the Lok Sabha polls in 2024, she stated. “Ek saath hoke gathbandhan taiyaar karein, age barein, main ap logo ke saath ek hoke worker ka maafik ek saath larenge (Come together to form a united front. I will work together with you),” she added.

Banerjee additional stated, “I will be in Delhi next week and I want to meet the opposition leaders during the ongoing Parliament session. I propose you call a meeting of opposition leaders between 26-28th of this month. We are keen to attend it.”