JD-U seeks clarification from Centre in hacking bid row

Patna: As the alleged phone and email hacking row shook the corridors of power in the country, with Opposition leaders asking for an explanation from the Centre on the issue and writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking a probe, JD-U MLC and chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said such an act was dangerous fordemocracy.

“The way the phones of prominent personalities like Priyanka Chaturvedi, Mahua Moitra, Shashi Tharoor and Sitaram Yechuri were hacked and the iPhone company Apple alerted them that it was a state-sponsored attempt, the Centre should clarify on it. Such an act is dangerous for the democracy of the country,” Kumar said.

Earlier, in the day many Opposition leaders claimed that they got alerts regarding hacking bids on their iPhones from Apple and levelled allegations against the Central Government for its alleged involvement in espionage.

Priyanka Chaturvedi, the Shiv Sena MP, while uploading a post on social media platform X, said, if the warning messages are “indeed accurate”, it raises serious questions about "agencies being directed toward targeting the Opposition instead of those who pose a threat to our nation".

"As the cradle of democracy, our actions send a troubling message to the world when our own government, instead of upholding the principles of a robust democratic framework, resorts to silencing the Opposition," Chaturvedi said, adding that she was not the only one to receive such a warning notification from Apple as many MPs and prominent Opposition leaders had also received similar notifications.

“The warning last night shows that this is a sponsored program of the central government, and that I need to take precautions! The warning clearly says that this is state-sponsored. Why are leaders of the Opposition parties getting such messages? This shows that large-scale surveillance is underway. There should be an investigation on this and the Centre should give clarification on the same,” she said.

Leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Sitaram Yechuri, Asaduddin Owaisi, Shashi Tharoor, Mahua Moitra and others also reacted sharply on the issue.