Snoopgate inquiry a genuine need, says Congress

Rejecting Bharatiya Janata Party's charge of political vendetta in the Centre's move to set up an inquiry commission to probe Gujarat snoopgate case, Congress on Friday said it was a "genuine need" and alleged that snooping on the girl was done at the behest of Narendra Modi not only inside but outside Gujarat too.

"Snooping on the girl was done on behest of "saheb" not only inside but outside Gujrat also. An all-India inquiry was a genuine need," party General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed tweeted.

Sometime back, Congress had held a press conference in AICC playing out an audio clip that carried a purported conversation between Modi's close aide Amit Shah and "saheb" about the snooping details, claiming that "saheb" in this case was Modi.

The BJP had on Thursday strongly reacted to the Union Cabinet's decision approving setting up of a judicial Commission of Inquiry to probe charges of spying on a young woman in 2009 allegedly at the behest of Modi.

As BJP alleged that the Centre's move was an attack on the federal structure, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi accused the opposition party of "creating an obfuscation", saying that Modi was involved in "cheap abuse" of power in the case and that the Centre was well within its rights to set up the inquiry commission.

Some Congress leaders also said that that the inquiry should have been ordered earlier with Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma going to the extent of maintaining, "Modi would have been in jail" had the probe started earlier.

Image: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi