New Delhi, July 28
The controversy surrounding the alleged bugging of union minister Nitin Gadkari’s residence snowballed today with the Opposition Congress seeking an inquiry into the matter and asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain the issue in Parliament.

Stopping short of accusing Modi of involvement in the current episode, Congress leaders today drew linkages between the current issue and the old allegations of snooping against Modi when he was Gujarat CM.

This even as Home Minister Rajnath Singh rejected any possibility of a probe and the BJP dismissed as “baseless” the apprehensions that high-powered listening devices were recovered from the Teen Murti lane residence of Gadkari, current Minister for Road Transport and Highways, considered close to the RSS.

Gadkari himself denied the occurrence of bugging though he had yesterday only termed the report as “highly speculative”.

The Congress was quick to spot the difference with party’s general secretary (communications) Ajay Makan saying: “Bugging either occurred or did not occur. The minister did not deny the reports yesterday. He only called them speculative. We want the question answered,” said Makan indicating that the matter would be raised in the Parliament where Congress allies the NCP, the RJD and the JDU are sure to lend support.

The Congress also recalled the old allegations of surveillance against Modi when he was Gujarat CM to stress its point and demand a probe.

Congress' senior Gujarat leader Shakti Sinh Gohil, in Delhi today, remembered how former IGP Gujarat Intelligence had admitted on record that the phone surveillance of slain BJP leader Harin Pandya had been done on the then CM Modi’s orders. Pandya was killed in 2003.

Another allegation that Modi snooped on a young woman architect in Gujarat continues to top Congress’ anti-Modi repertoire though the party itself failed to get a judge to probe the issue when in government.

Besides, the Congress mentioned today how in the three months beginning January 2013, various wings of Gujarat police had obtained call records of 90,000 people on the pretext of investigations.

Asked if he was accusing Modi of spying on Gadkari, Gohil said, “The PM must answer that. We want a probe. When we were in government, the BJP used to accuse former PM Manmohan Singh of being silent. What is Modi doing now?”

Even on the Gadkari’s snooping issue, the Congress is unsure of how far to go. Though the party leadership, including former PM Manmohan Singh, former foreign minister Salman Khurshid (he dismissed the possibility of US hand in Gadkari’s snooping as suggested by BJP’s Subramanian Swamy) and party general secretary Digvijay Singh, has demanded a probe into matter, the party is still firming up its response strategy and feels it has other issues it can raise in Parliament, including a possible breach of privilege notice against PM Modi for allegedly lying to the Parliament on June 11 about the power situation in Gujarat and the CAG’s latest report which picks holes in the Gujarat development model.

Congress insiders cited a letter which the union minister wrote to the RSS informing them of the bugging.