New Delhi:
The BJP has denied allegations that the phones of one its most senior leaders, Arun Jaitley, were being tracked by a rival section within the party. Four people have been arrested this month for trying to access the records of Mr Jaitley's four cellphones.
"The government is spying on the Opposition. Had it instead spent more resources on countering terrorism, the nation would have been safer. The phone tapping is not a fallout of bickering within the BJP," the party's vice president, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said today.
The party said it suspects the government of trying to spy on Mr Jaitley.
"The BJP will be interested in knowing if state actors were involved," said Rajiv Pratap Rudy of the main opposition party.
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was expected to address the issue in Parliament today, but the Lok Sabha was adjourned to Monday.
Earlier this month, a constable in the Delhi Police was arrested for trying to order cellphone operators to share the records of Mr Jaitley's four mobile phones. He was working allegedly for three private detectives, who have also been arrested.
The police has admitted in court that there appears to be "a larger conspiracy" by the gang to get mobile records for at least 12 politicians. Shivanand Tewari of the Janata Dal (United), an ally of the BJP, says his phone was also tapped.
Anurag Singh, one of the private detectives arrested in Delhi last week, has earlier been accused of tapping the phone of former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh in 2005.