Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday lashed out at the opposition parties for creating a “negative” atmosphere in the country and stalling the Parliament proceedings over the Pegasus snooping controversy and demanded that they apologise.
At a press conference here, the BJP leader also said it was because of the “negative attitude” of the Opposition that it did not allow issues concerning the common people to be raised in Parliament.
“For the past two days, the Opposition has been trying to vitiate the atmosphere of the country over the Pegasus issue and it only proves their sick mentality. Congress governments had been doing such things during their tenures and now the party is following the same while in Opposition,” Adityanath said.
The chief minister accused the Opposition of indulging in “negative politics” during the time of the coronavirus crisis.
“Instead of giving support to the people, the Congress leaders tried to create an atmosphere of anarchy during the second wave of coronavirus. At a time, when a bold decision is made to hold the Parliament session, sensational things are brought up just a day before the commencement of the session, and an attempt is made to vitiate the atmosphere of the society,” Adityanath said, referring to the charges of snooping on journalists, politicians, ministers, judges and others in India using Israeli Pegasus spyware.
“This shows the declining level of politics. The opposition is completely in a negative role and is knowingly or unknowingly falling prey to international conspiracies which aim to destabilise India in one form or the other,” he said.
“This is not the first such incident. At the beginning of 2020 during the visit of the then US President, there was widespread violence in Delhi. Was it not a part of the conspiracy?” the chief minister asked.
“The WHO has praised India’s Covid management, but the Opposition of the country is trying to create an atmosphere that the government is unaware about things and people are dying due to COVID-19. The level at which the Opposition is working to malign the image of India globally and destabilise the country is extremely unfortunate.”
Adityanath also said there have been many instances of the “Opposition becoming part of a conspiracy against India” before any important occasion.
The chief minister also said it has been tradition that the Prime Minister introduces his new ministers in the House after the formation of the council of ministers and re-shuffling. “The Parliament is a forum to put forth one’s point of view. If we allow Parliament to fall prey to noise, it amounts to strangling of democracy, and the Opposition is continuously doing this,” he said.
He also claimed that a “conspiracy has been hatched against the country in the name of farmers’ agitation”.
“Dividing the farmers on the basis of community and religion and allowing anti-national activities through them, this negative politics will not benefit the country, the opposition or the public, but this will definitely vitiate the atmosphere,” Adityanath said.
The Pegasus spyware issue has rocked the Monsoon session of Parliament.
As political heat rose over allegations linked to the snooping row, the Centre on Monday categorically rejected them saying attempts were being made to “malign” Indian democracy even as the Congress and the BJP sparred and the main opposition party demanded the sacking of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
An international media consortium reported on Sunday that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders and one sitting judge besides scores of businesspersons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking through the spyware.
