The Hindu : National : Phones of Uma, Digvijay tapped, claims TV channel

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 10, 2006

National

National

Phones of Uma, Digvijay tapped, claims TV channel

New Delhi: A Hindi television news channel on Thursday claimed to have evidence that telephones of 50 politicians in Madhya Pradesh, including those of expelled BJP leader Uma Bharti and the former Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, were tapped by police when Babulal Gaur was the Chief Minister.

`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 the 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 between October and December last year when Ms. Bharti had raised a banner of revolt against Mr. Gaur's leadership in a bid to stage a comeback as Chief Minister, the news channel said.

Against democracy

Reacting to the alleged phone tapping, Ms. Bharti said, "it is against principles of democracy, violative of rules and an act of cowardice."

"People who have done this are cowards. While grassroots workers are working hard, the leaders are involved in a conspiracy. It (BJP) has become a party of conspirators," she said. — PTI

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