Congress walks out of RS over Snoopgate 2.0

New Delhi: The Congress leadership on Monday walked out of the Rajya Sabha after uproar in the upper House of Parliament over the alleged ‘Snoopgate’ involving party Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

At the commencement of the parliamentary session, the Congress chose to address the issue of the alleged political espionage on Rahul Gandhi by the Delhi Police.

Lashing out at the Government, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said: “Why is there a need for the Delhi Police to know Rahul Gandhi’s shoe size? Is this the sort of spying the government plans against its political opponents?”

Reiterating his party’s earlier clarification, Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the Police’s visit to Rahul’s office is a part of a routine profiling of top politicians.

“The Congress is making a mountain of something that is not even a molehill,” Jaitley said, adding that in 1987, it was the Congress government headed by Rajiv Gandhi that initiated the process of profiling of politicians that involves the completion of a document by the leader.

To provide clarification on the issue, Delhi Police Chief B S Bassi met MoS Home Kiren Rijiju on Monday after which the latter was to give a statement in the Parliament.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has on multiple occasions filled out the same proforma. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was added to the list and newly anointed BJP Chief Amit Shah too is on the list.

Rahul Gandhi, who is on an extended sabbatical from the Congress leadership to mull over his party’s performance in the recently concluded assembly polls, was profiled by the police earlier in the month. In the profile, he was asked questions like the colour of his hair and eyes and what clothes he chose to wear besides his personal contact details and those closely associated with him.

Currently, Rahul Gandhi’s protection is overlooked by a Special Protection Group or the SPG and not by the Delhi Police.

By dubbing the controversy ‘Snoopgate 2’, Congress leaders have swiped at  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was accused by the opposition of using his term as Gujarat Chief Minister to order the illegal surveillance of a young woman architect. Her family has said it sought Mr Modi’s help in ensuring her safety.