Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 13 (ANI): Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Friday expressed "deep regret" over alleged surveillance targeting Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, asserting that Gandhi speaks with "great thoughtfulness and knowledge" when raising such concerns.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Congress-hosted Bharat Summit in Hyderabad to ANI, Khurshid backed Gandhi’s recent allegations of phone tapping, which have sparked a fresh political face-off between the Opposition and the ruling BJP over national security and privacy.
While declining to delve into specifics beyond Gandhi's own disclosures, Khurshid framed the alleged snooping as an attack on a core constitutional office.
"When he says something, he must be saying it with great thoughtfulness and with knowledge. And what he says, which is based on his knowledge, is something that we can't comment on," Khurshid said.
"We can only express our deep regret that somebody is doing this to the phone of the Leader of Opposition, who is part of the democratic structure of our country," he added.
Khurshid made the remarks at the second edition of the Bharat Summit, held from November 12 to 14 in Hyderabad.
Organised by the Congress, the international conclave has brought together around 1,000 delegates and policymakers from 70 countries to deliberate on global progressive politics and foreign policy.
Addressing sharp criticism from BJP leaders—who have sought to brand the conclave and the Opposition's outreach as "anti-Bharat"—Khurshid dismissed the charge as paradoxical.
"How can you have an anti-Bharat summit where you are celebrating India's heritage, where you are celebrating India's political outreach to the world, where you are celebrating the legacy of a great movement which was a non-aligned movement?" Khurshid asked. "How can that be anti-Bharat? Saying that this is anti-Bharat is anti-Bharat."
Positioning the summit as a counterweight to right-wing political trends globally, Khurshid expressed confidence that the Hyderabad gathering would be "enormously successful."
"This is a message to the progressive world that the progressives of India are very determined, very alert, very equipped to fight the forces which are deliberately trying to destroy progressive movements across the world," he added.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday levelled serious allegations of him being surveilled by the Central government, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is having his phone tapped, while once again calling for the Prime Minister to agree to an open debate against him.
"The Prime Minister is aware of this because he has my phone tapped. The day he agrees to a face-to-face debate, everyone will learn who is under the control of foreign powers, who is anti-national, and how long they have been involved in anti-national activities," Rahul Gandhi said in a video posted by Congress on X.
The LoP in Lok Sabha has said that the proof of PM Modi being under the control of "foreign powers" is already on his phone, and as such, the PM already knows what the proof is.
"The moment he (PM Modi) comes for an open debate, everybody will know who is being controlled by foreign powers, is an anti-national, since when, and lots of other details that I know and are on my phone," Gandhi said.
Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to agree to an open debate with him, challenging him openly on X and calling on close Union Ministers to convince the Prime Minister. (ANI)
"Deep regret someone is doing this to LoP's phone": Salman Khurshid backs Rahul Gandhi on tapping row, defends Bharat Summit
