01-09-2006, 08:25 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>My phone too being tapped: Chandrababu</b>
Omer Farooq/ Hyderabad
Leaders lend ears, back Amar Singh's campaign ---- Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, who is mobilising countrywide political support on the issue of alleged phone-tapping by the UPA Government, on Sunday received a major shot in the arm from TPD president N Chandrababu Naidu.
After Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had said her phone too was being tapped, Mr Naidu also said that his phone and those of other TDP leaders were being tapped.
"Some people have informed me about this but I will come out with it only when I get some solid evidence," he told newsmen after meeting Mr Singh at his Jubilee Hills residence.
"Since the matter was raised by many opposition leaders, I demand that an impartial inquiry should be ordered to bring forth the facts and clear the apprehensions," Mr Naidu said.
The hour-long meeting focused on the controversy, which erupted with Amar Singh levelling serious charges that, his and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's phones were being tapped. He directly held UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi responsible.
Alleging that he was being threatened, the SP leader told newsmen that if those behind the tapping can spend crores of rupees tapping phones, they can do any thing. "If any thing happens to me, the UPA Government will be responsible," he said stressing that his life was under threat.
Mr Singh said he would make Reliance Infocomm a party to the petition he proposed to file in the Supreme Court in connection with the tapping of his telephone at his house in New Delhi as the private telecom company was the service provider.
"Questions have so far been asked why I did not make Reliance Infocomm the party. The allegation against me is that Anil Ambani is my friend. Friendship has its own place. I will make the Reliance Infocomm a party to the Supreme Court because the company was the service provider," Singh told reporters here after a meeting with Mr Naidu.
Mr Amar Singh also alleged that the phone of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was being tapped but he was unaware of it. "I came to know about tapping when an intelligence official asked me whether I had talked to the Prime Minister over phone a day earlier. When I asked how he knew about it, he told me with a laugh that your telephone was being tapped."
"Even the phone of the service provider (Reliance Infocomm) was also being tapped. My telephonic conversation with Anil Ambani was also tapped," Amar Singh said.
Mr Naidu supported the earlier demand that there should be an impartial inquiry into the whole episode by three Chief Ministers, namely West Bengal's Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Tamil Nadu's Jayalalithaa and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
He recalled that earlier BJP president Venkaiah Naidu had also raised the issue and alleged that the phone of Mr LK Advani was being tapped. Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had also made similar allegations.
<b>"If Congress indulges in such undemocratic actions, what will be the fate of democracy in the country. Where are we going," </b>asked Mr Naidu.
http://tinyurl.com/9p28n
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Omer Farooq/ Hyderabad
Leaders lend ears, back Amar Singh's campaign ---- Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, who is mobilising countrywide political support on the issue of alleged phone-tapping by the UPA Government, on Sunday received a major shot in the arm from TPD president N Chandrababu Naidu.
After Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had said her phone too was being tapped, Mr Naidu also said that his phone and those of other TDP leaders were being tapped.
"Some people have informed me about this but I will come out with it only when I get some solid evidence," he told newsmen after meeting Mr Singh at his Jubilee Hills residence.
"Since the matter was raised by many opposition leaders, I demand that an impartial inquiry should be ordered to bring forth the facts and clear the apprehensions," Mr Naidu said.
The hour-long meeting focused on the controversy, which erupted with Amar Singh levelling serious charges that, his and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's phones were being tapped. He directly held UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi responsible.
Alleging that he was being threatened, the SP leader told newsmen that if those behind the tapping can spend crores of rupees tapping phones, they can do any thing. "If any thing happens to me, the UPA Government will be responsible," he said stressing that his life was under threat.
Mr Singh said he would make Reliance Infocomm a party to the petition he proposed to file in the Supreme Court in connection with the tapping of his telephone at his house in New Delhi as the private telecom company was the service provider.
"Questions have so far been asked why I did not make Reliance Infocomm the party. The allegation against me is that Anil Ambani is my friend. Friendship has its own place. I will make the Reliance Infocomm a party to the Supreme Court because the company was the service provider," Singh told reporters here after a meeting with Mr Naidu.
Mr Amar Singh also alleged that the phone of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was being tapped but he was unaware of it. "I came to know about tapping when an intelligence official asked me whether I had talked to the Prime Minister over phone a day earlier. When I asked how he knew about it, he told me with a laugh that your telephone was being tapped."
"Even the phone of the service provider (Reliance Infocomm) was also being tapped. My telephonic conversation with Anil Ambani was also tapped," Amar Singh said.
Mr Naidu supported the earlier demand that there should be an impartial inquiry into the whole episode by three Chief Ministers, namely West Bengal's Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Tamil Nadu's Jayalalithaa and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
He recalled that earlier BJP president Venkaiah Naidu had also raised the issue and alleged that the phone of Mr LK Advani was being tapped. Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had also made similar allegations.
<b>"If Congress indulges in such undemocratic actions, what will be the fate of democracy in the country. Where are we going," </b>asked Mr Naidu.
http://tinyurl.com/9p28n
http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_...t&counter_img=1
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