Inquiry needed against phone tapping, as it involves privacy issue, says Joshi

Pointing out the contradiction in the statement of Home Minister G. Parameshwara on telephone tapping, Union Minister Prahlad Joshi has said that if phone tapping has occurred, it is a serious issue involving privacy and required a thorough inquiry.

Speaking to presspersons in Hubballi on Wednesday, Mr. Joshi questioned the Home Minister’s remarks on phone tapping.

While the Home Minister has claimed that there has been no phone tapping, he himself has revealed that the State government is keeping a close tab on internal matters which raises serious concerns about privacy of individuals, he said.

He said that the Opposition cannot carry out such actions. He added that if it has happened, it must have been done by the ruling disposition.

On Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s allegation that the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy also engaged in phone tapping when in power, Mr. Joshi sought to know why no action was taken against him after the Congress assumed power.

“Mr. Siddaramaiah was part of the coordination committee at that time. He should have acted if there was any wrongdoing [on the part of Mr. Kumaraswamy],” he said.

Responding to the Chief Minister’s remarks on his bonhomie with Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Mr. Joshi said that the combination is not of milk and honey but of milk and alcohol.

He said that the Opposition is not the reason for such a statement by him [Shivakumar] but his own followers.

Responding to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not reacted to the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he said that the Prime Minister has been taking decisions over the past 10 years with careful consideration of their impact on international relations and he will act keeping the nation’s interests in mind.

He said that the State government is financially bankrupt and it is burdening consumers by increasing electricity tariff. He accused the Siddaramaiah-led government of misgovernance and corruption.

He said that electricity tariff has been proposed to be increased by 90 paise. He added that fees for birth and death certificates, road tax, excise duty, property tax and property registration have also been raised.

“This is the height of mismanagement. Electricity supply companies are under financial stress and passing that burden on to consumers is shameful,” he said urging the State government to roll back the tariff hike.

Mr. Joshi said that India’s GDP has crossed $4 trillion and the country’s overall wealth has increased. But the weak economic policies in the State are driving away investments, he added.

He said that companies such as Google have moved out of the State and warned that other industries might follow suit.

He further said that the State government has accumulated heavy debts and is struggling even to pay interest, describing it as a sign of poor governance. If the situation continues, he warned, the State can face a serious economic crisis, while rising cross-subsidies will further burden consumers.