Modi silent on snoop scandal in party meet: accused the Congress of spreading lies about the shortage of vaccines

The Prime Minister instead said that Congress had been reduced to being in power in just 'two-three states' but had a misplaced sense of 'entitlement'

Narendra Modi: File picture

J.P. Yadav   |   TT  |  New Delhi   |   21.07.21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the Congress had been reduced to being in power in just “two-three states” but had a misplaced sense of “entitlement”, keeping his focus on the Opposition party at a meeting of BJP MPs on Tuesday and not bothering to clear the air on the Pegasus snoop scandal.

Picking up from where he had left off on Monday in his effort to attack the Congress, Modi was quoted as telling the BJP MPs during the closed-door meeting: “The Congress still has a sense of entitlement that they have ruled the country for 60 years. They are unable to digest that the people have chosen the BJP.”

The Opposition had stalled Parliament proceedings for the second day, protesting against the government over the snoop scandal, Covid mismanagement, price rise and farm laws, among other issues.

The Lok Sabha saw multiple adjournments before getting washed out for the day. Opposition members waved placards and shouted slogans against the government.

At the weekly meeting of BJP MPs of both Houses, Modi did not mention the Pegasus scandal, MPs who were present said. His government has not denied that it is a client of Israeli firm NSO, which owns the Pegasus spyware and only sells it to governments.

The list of those selected for surveillance by an unknown client of the Israeli firm includes Indians in key positions and should have been of concern to any government.

Modi, however, focused on the Congress’s election defeats in Bengal, Assam and Kerala without mentioning the BJP’s loss in the Bengal polls, where he and all his senior ministers had campaigned hard.

“The Congress has been reduced to just two-three states but instead of being concerned about its plight, they are concerned about us (the BJP),” Modi told the MPs.

The Prime Minister did not mention that in two states where the BJP is in power now — Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka — the Congress had won the election and formed the government but these were later toppled. The BJP then formed the government in both states with the help of the defectors.

The Wire news portal reported on Tuesday that in July 2019, when the BJP was trying to pull down the Karnataka government, the phone numbers of several key leaders of ruling allies JDS and Congress, and their aides, were listed for surveillance.

At the BJP meeting on Tuesday, the Prime Minister described the Congress’s conduct inside and outside Parliament as “irresponsible and unfortunate” and said it was unable to digest the fact that the BJP was in power.

Modi accused the Congress of spreading lies about the shortage of vaccines and claimed that the Opposition party wanted to spread a negative atmosphere in the country. Less than 7 per cent Indians are fully vaccinated and shortages and long queues have been reported across states.

He asked the MPs to visit fair price shops on July 24 and 25, when food grains would be distributed among the poor, stressing the need to defeat the Opposition’s campaign over the Covid crisis.