"Pegasus In His Mind, Not In Phone": Shivraj Chouhan Slams Rahul Gandhi

Hitting out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his claim of being snooped on through Israeli spyware Pegasus, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday said that Pegasus is not in the phone, rather it is in the mind of Rahul Gandhi.

Addressing the media, Chief Minister Chouhan said, "Pegasus is not in the phone, it is in the mind of Rahul Gandhi. Pegasus has entered the DNA of the Congress. I pity for his (Rahul Gandhi) intelligence. He goes to foreign countries and makes statements against our country. He talks anti-India by going to foreign embassies. It is a new agenda of the Congress to defame India in foreign countries."

Criticising the country abroad is an anti-national step. Therefore, the country and the people will never forgive Rahul Gandhi, he added.

Rahul Gandhi, recently in a lecture at Cambridge University, claimed that his phone was being spied on through Pegasus, an Israeli spyware, and that he was warned by intelligence officers to be 'careful' about what he speaks on calls.

"I had Pegasus on my phone. A large number of politicians had Pegasus on their phones. I have been called by intelligence officers who told me, 'Please be careful about what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff'. So this is the constant pressure that we feel. Cases on the opposition. I have got a number of criminal liable cases for things that should under no circumstances be criminal liable cases. That's what we are trying to defend," the Congress leader said in his address.

Chief Minister Chouhan further slammed former Chief Minister Kamal Nath over raising questions on Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana.

Mr Chouhan said, "I am asking very responsibly today and Nath has to answer. I asked earlier as well but did not get an answer. In 2017, we started depositing Rs 1,000 in the bank accounts of women belonging to Baiga, Bharia and Sahariya tribes. So that their children in the family can be nurtured properly."

"We deposited Rs 1,000 in the accounts of the women till our government remained in power in the state which was till 2018. As soon as the Congress government came to power, why did you (Nath) stop depositing Rs 1,000 to the accounts of Baiga, Bharia, Sahariya sisters? Today these women are asking you a question," he added.

Besides, the chief minister said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Indore is an era that goes ahead of time. Indore has made another innovation, we had seen ambulances for humans, ambulances for animals, but now tree ambulances have been started in Indore for taking care of trees."

If any plant gets sick in the gardens or on the roadsides, then this ambulance will take care of the plants in the city. They will spray insecticide. On receiving a call, this ambulance reaches to treat the plants, Mr Chouhan said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)