Verbal Spat Between Amit Malviya And P Chidambaram Over Apple Alerts To Opposition Leaders

In a contentious exchange on Wednesday, Amit Malviya, the head of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) IT cell, and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram engaged in a war of words. The dispute revolved around the alerts sent by Apple to opposition leaders, which Chidambaram questioned.

Chidambaram took to social media to express his concerns, stating that it's undeniable that hundreds of opposition leaders received alerts from Apple warning of a state-sponsored attempt to compromise their phones. He questioned why only opposition leaders were targeted and suggested that the unresolved Pegasus mystery raised suspicions of government agency involvement. At present, it remains a suspicion.

Chidambaram's comments were swiftly countered by Amit Malviya, who shared a screenshot of a 2011 news article. This article recounted a situation in which the then Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee reported that his finance ministry offices had been bugged. Malviya pointed out that Chidambaram was the Home Minister at that time and asked if this rang a bell for him.

The mentioned news report from 2011 revealed that Pranab Mukherjee had written to then-Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh about the discovery of an adhesive-like substance in his office, which raised concerns that an electronic device had been implanted.

Regarding the Apple alert controversy, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Tuesday, stated that the government is treating the matter with seriousness and has initiated an investigation. He emphasized that the government is concerned about the issue and is committed to getting to the bottom of it. He explained that Apple had issued the advisory in 150 countries and that it was clear from their communication that they lacked specific information, sending the alert based on an estimate.