A Hindi television news channel tonight claimed to have evidence that telephones of 50 politicians in Madhya Pradesh, including those of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti, former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, were tapped by the police when Babulal Gaur was the Chief Minister. The channel India TV said the politicians whose phones were tapped also included senior BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan, leader of the opposition Jamuna Devi, Congress leader Manak Agarwal, Agriculture Minister Chandrabhan Singh of BJP, Uma loyalist and former union minister Prahlad Patel and Gauri Shankar Shewaj and some other BJP leaders.
The tapping was done by the Special Task Force of state police between October and December 2005 when Bharti had raised a banner of revolt against Gaur's leadership in a bid to stage a comeback as Chief Minister, the news channel said.
Reacting to the alleged phone-tapping, Bharti said, "It is against principles of democracy, violative of rules and an act of cowardice."
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