Wednesday, January 11 2006 09:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Jaipur: At a time when Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)Government at the Centre is under attack on phone-tapping issue, the party's Rajasthan unit yesterday(Jan 10,2006) sought to turn the table by accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in the state of intercepting the telephonic talk of key Congress leaders.

Rajasthan PCC chief and leader of the opposition B D Kalla alleged to reporters that the phones of important party leaders, including himself, iformer chief ministers, leaders of party's frontal organisations and senior Government officers were being tapped.

"Tapping phone calls without information and permission of the home department is violation of democracy and goes against the privacy of a person," Kalla said.

The BJP government should make these tapes public and order a CBI probe into such cases, he said.

"Even my mobile telephone is being taped as I feel echo or noisy voice of an electronic system, which is commonly used for tapping, when I make call or get a call," Kalla claimed.

"This is not a new thing for the BJP Government led by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to ask telephone companies to tap phones, specially mobiles, because the Government has ordered tapping equipments and done it without the permission of the state Home Minister last year," he alleged.

Kalla the phone tapping issue was raised in the budget session of the assembly and the state government told a Congress member in its written reply that phone-tapping equipments were purchased and installed to tape in some cases without the Home Minister's permission.

That system was still prevailing in the State Government, he added.

Recently a conversation between two senior administrative officers of the agricultural marketing board was taped against the backdrop of a soyabean purchase issue at Khanpur in the state, he said, adding a tape on this episode was likely to be telecast by a private news channel.