NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, who on Monday offered an apology to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his remarks that some people in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) were also involved in the phone tapping case, said: "I had named those in the PMO about whom I had been informed as being close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. I had no intention of causing hurt to Dr. Manmohan Singh, whom I respect a lot and who I know will not associate himself with such activity. During his visit to the Andaman and Nicobar islands, he had said that phone tapping was a serious issue."

Mr. Amar Singh said he had been telling the Prime Minister for a year that his phone was being tapped. The Prime Minister had assured him that he would not let the PMO be misused for such unlawful activity.

On Mr. Baru's statement describing his remarks as "mischievous," Mr. Singh said "the remarks were not borne out of any mischief but because of my hurt feelings and anger which may have caused irritation."

Referring to the notice issued to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to vacate his official residence on Krishna Menon Marg, Mr. Singh said Dr. Singh had agreed to talk to Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy to allot the house to Ram Gopal Yadav, three-time MP of the SP and leader of the parliamentary party. Mr. Singh said the court notice issued to Mr. Yadav on the "disproportionate assets" case were "politically trumped up charges" by one Vishwanath Chaturvedi.

Challenging the Congress to reveal the contents of the audio tape that was not admissible in a court of law, he alleged that phones of political rivals were being tapped by the Research and Analysis Wing, the Intelligence Bureau, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Customs Department, the Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence among other agencies. He charged that these agencies did not have adequate manpower and were "outsourcing to private detective agencies." He said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa; the former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu; the former BJP president, Venkiah Naidu and L.K. Advani had said their phones were also being tapped.

He also alleged that his "sources" had told him that the phone of the former External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, was also "tapped" and "his house bugged."

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