Pegasus row: Rahul Gandhi, other Oppn leaders submit adjournment motion

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders jointly submitted an adjournment motion in Lok Sabha for a discussion on the Pegasus snooping controversy in the "presence of the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and/or (Union) Home minister (Amit Shah)".

The motion was submitted after Opposition parties met twice on Tuesday and Wednesday and decided to move it together as part of a united strategy. Representatives of 14 Opposition parties attended the second meeting under Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge's chairmanship on Wednesday.

Gandhi was among those who attended the meeting and some of the leaders asked him to take the lead. "Sitting with the entire Opposition is extremely humbling. Amazing experience, wisdom, and insights from everyone present," Gandhi said.

Derek O'Brien of the Trinamool Congress said they are with the other Opposition parties and informed Congress about their inability to attend the meeting.

Kharge and Manickam Tagore have also submitted adjournment motions earlier in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The Pegasus row erupted on August 18 before the beginning of Parliament's ongoing monsoon session after an international investigative consortium reported that many Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen, and journalists were potentially targeted by the Israeli company NSO Group's phone hacking software Pegasus. A forensic analysis of 10 of the targets proved they had been hacked or that there had been attempts to do so.

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the Congress can't even handle its internal troubles. "But it is hell-bent on forcing its views on other Opposition parties."