Editor's Pick: Pegasus issue to roil Budget Session

The Budget session of Parliament, beginning on Monday, is expected to start on a stormy note as the Opposition is all set to corner the Narendra Modi government over the latest revelations regarding Pegasus spyware, as reported in the The New York Times last week. It may be recalled that the Pegasus snooping row had washed out the Monsoon session last year, and could derail the Budget session. The Budget session will formally get underway with President Ram Nath Kovind addressing a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at the Central Hall today. On Sunday, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to demand a privilege motion against the Information Technology (IT) Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, for “deliberately misleading the House on the Pegasus issue”. Mr Chowdhury cited The New York Times report that claimed that the Modi government had purchased the Pegasus spyware from the Israeli group, NSO, in July 2017, in his letter to the Speaker. In July last year, making a statement on the Pegasus issue, the IT Minister had told Parliament that “no unauthorised surveillance can occur”. In view of the on-going Omicron wave, members will be seated in the chambers of both Houses. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will return to have separate sittings in shifts with members seated across both chambers of Parliament to ensure distancing norms. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Economic Survey 2021-22 today and the Union Budget on Tuesday. The first part of the Budget Session will be held from January 31 to February 11 after which it will go into recess to examine the budgetary allocations for different departments. Stepping up the attack on the Prime Minister and the government, on Saturday, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had accused Mr Modi of ‘committing treason”. Mr Gandhi’s number is said to be among a list of numbers that were said to be potential targets of hacking by using the spyware. The Budget session also comes right in the middle of election campaigns to five states — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur — that go to polls on February 10 and will continue until March 7. The story is on the front page of The Hindu for its implications on government-mounted surveillance on its people. With a Supreme Court ordered probe under way, supervised by a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, the country needs to be told if citizens were spied upon by a spyware used to infect mobile phones and other devices of lawyers, activists and journalists among others. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? 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[Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Pegasus issue to roil Budget Session [Pegasus issue to roil Budget Session] The Budget session of Parliament, beginning on Monday, is expected to start on a stormy note as the [Opposition is all set to corner]( the Narendra Modi government over the latest revelations regarding Pegasus spyware, as reported in the The New York Times last week. It may be recalled that the Pegasus snooping row had washed out the Monsoon session last year, and could derail the Budget session. The Budget session will formally get underway with President Ram Nath Kovind addressing a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at the Central Hall today. On Sunday, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to demand [a privilege motion]( against the Information Technology (IT) Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, for “deliberately misleading the House on the Pegasus issue”. Mr Chowdhury cited The New York Times report that claimed that the Modi government had purchased the Pegasus spyware from the Israeli group, NSO, in July 2017, in his letter to the Speaker. In July last year, making a statement on the Pegasus issue, the IT Minister had told Parliament that “no unauthorised surveillance can occur”. In view of the on-going Omicron wave, members will be seated in the chambers of both Houses. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will return to have separate sittings in shifts with members seated across both chambers of Parliament to ensure distancing norms. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Economic Survey 2021-22 today and the Union Budget on Tuesday. The first part of the Budget Session will be held from January 31 to February 11 after which it will go into recess to examine the budgetary allocations for different departments. Stepping up the attack on the Prime Minister and the government, on Saturday, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had accused Mr Modi of ‘committing treason”. Mr Gandhi’s number is said to be among a list of numbers that were said to be potential targets of hacking by using the spyware. The Budget session also comes right in the middle of election campaigns to five states — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur — that go to polls on February 10 and will continue until March 7. The story is on the front page of The Hindu for its implications on government-mounted surveillance on its people. With a [Supreme Court ordered probe]( under way, supervised by a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, the country needs to be told if citizens were spied upon by a spyware used to infect mobile phones and other devices of lawyers, activists and journalists among others. [underlineimg] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( The Hindu's Editorial [Arrow][Limits of power: On Maharashtra MLAs suspension case]( [Arrow][Risky bets: On Russia, Ukraine and hopes of a diplomatic solution]( [underlineimg] Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Who was the prime minister of India when India established formal diplomatic ties with Israel? 1. PV Narasimha Rao 2. Atal Bihari Vajpayee 3. H.D. Deve Gowda 4. Manmohan Singh To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here](. 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