Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi with his former Home Minister Amit Shah (File pic)
The controversy billowing around prime ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi over whether his government spied on a young woman in Gujarat escalated sharply today.
Pradeep Sharma, a senior bureaucrat from the state, told NDTV that he has asked the Supreme Court to order the Gujarat government to explain whether he too was placed under surveillance.
In 2010, Mr Sharma was suspended by the Gujarat government and then arrested on corruption charges. He told NDTV that he was "persecuted" because he knew of the relationship between a top Gujarat politician and the woman whose identity cannot be revealed for legal reasons.
In 2011, he was granted bail.
Two news portals -Gulail and cobrapost.com - claim that audio tapes with the CBI reveal that in 2009, Gujarat's then Home Minister Amit Shah ordered the state's senior police officers to spy on Mr Sharma and the young woman at the behest of "saheb" or "boss."
The Congress has alleged that Mr Modi was the "boss" referred to in those conversations, whose authenticity has not been corroborated by the CBI.
('Stalking sahebzada': Congress targets Narendra Modi for alleged Snoop-gate)The BJP has retaliated that surveillance for the young woman was ordered because her father, who knew Mr Modi personally, was worried that she was being stalked by Mr Sharma.
However, Mr Sharma claims that it was he who introduced the woman's family to Mr Modi, and that they had no long-standing association, as claimed by the BJP.
The BJP over the weekend released a letter from the woman's father stating that he was concerned about his daughter's safety while she was staying at a hotel in Ahmedabad, and asked Mr Modi to ensure "she does not face any problem."