The Pegasus spyware issue has triggered a fresh round of heated exchanges between the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSR Congress (YSRC) in Andhra Pradesh. The YSRCP on Friday, March 18, alleged that former Chief Minister and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu might have purchased the spyware privately. An RTI reply furnished by the Director General of Police of the state in August last said such software was never procured but the ruling party insisted that the Union government and the state conduct a detailed inquiry into the issue. The TDP maintained that the DGP's statement vindicated its stand.
The controversy began after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the previous TDP government of Chandrababu Naidu purchased the Pegasus spyware from an Israeli company. TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh, son of TDP president and former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, flatly refuted the claim by saying the West Bengal Chief Minister was misinformed. "Yes, Pegasus offered to sell its spyware to the Andhra Pradesh government as well but we rejected it," Lokesh said.
With the DGP's office asserting that no such software was procured, the YSRCP still sought to make an issue of it by alleging that Chandrababu Naidu might have purchased Pegasus spyware privately with the help of the then Intelligence chief AB Venkateswara Rao who is now under suspension. “If what Mamata Banerjee said is not true, why hasn't Chandrababu filed a defamation case against her,” said YSRCP spokesman Ambati Rambabu. "If he doesn't file a case, it amounts to admitting to use of Pegasus. If the state and the Central governments conduct a thorough probe, the facts will come out,” he said.
The TDP hit back at the YSRCP spokesman by saying his claims only exposed his ignorance. “The spyware is sold only to governments and not to individuals. The YSRCP leaders are not aware of even the basic facts,” said TDP MLC M Ravindranath Reddy, known as B Tech Ravi. “Had the then TDP government used the spyware, it would have probably saved Jagan's uncle YS Vivekananda Reddy from being murdered,” he said. “This is only to get away from the death of about 20 people due to spurious liquor that the Jagan regime is seeking to make an issue out of Pegasus. It should stop talking nonsense and order a judicial probe into the spurious liquor deaths,” said the MLC, referring to the deaths in West Godavari’s Jangareddygudem allegedly due to consumption of illicitly distilled liquor, which the ruling YSRCP has denied.
Meanwhile, the Twitter account of TDP was hacked on Saturday, March 19. Nara Lokesh said in a tweet: "Kindly note that our official party account @jaitdp has been hacked by nefarious elements. We are working with Twitter India to restore the account." The account was apparently hacked in the early hours of Saturday, and several responses were posted from the account to a tweet from SpaceX.
Kindly note that our official party account @jaitdp has been hacked by nefarious elements. We are working with @TwitterIndia to restore the account.
— Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) March 19, 2022