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Maharashtra: Row erupts after BJP minister tells party workers their ‘phones are under watch’
A politicfal row has erupted in Maharashtra after state minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule told party workers on Thursday that their mobile phones and WhatsApp groups are being monitored ahead of the local body elections, The Indian Express reported.
The revenue minister warned the workers against making “careless” remarks or participating in any rebellion.
After receiving backlash for his comments, Bawankule on Friday clarified that he was referring to the BJP reviewing comments made by its workers in the party's WhatsApp groups, The Times of India reported.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) described the BJP leader's statements as a breach of privacy and law, and demanded his arrest, The Times of India reported. The Opposition party also claimed that political opponents of the BJP were similarly being surveilled.
On Thursday, Bawankule made the claims while speaking at an event organised by the BJP in Bhandara district.
“Everyone's mobile phones and WhatsApp groups are under surveillance,” The Indian Express quoted the minister as saying. “Every word you speak is being monitored. A single wrong button on your phone can destroy the next five years.”
Discontent over ticket distribution should not translate into public outbursts or indiscipline, Bawankule said, adding that “the doors of leadership” would be closed to party members who rebelled.
The BJP leader urged restraint and unity, adding that “a single mistake or dissenting statement could harm both the city and the BJP's prospects”, The Indian Express reported.
He added: “Your one wrong decision can ruin Bhandara's future and damage the party. Don't let a wrong click or careless message harm the development work being done under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
The elections in 27 municipal corporations, including the municipal corporation in Mumbai, 243 nagar parishads and 289 panchayats, have been stalled since 2022 amid a case in the Supreme Court pertaining to reservations for the Other Backward Classes.
This has meant that most urban and rural bodies in the state have been operated without elected representatives. The terms of these representatives for various bodies ended between 2020 and 2022.
In September, the Supreme Court set January 31, 2026, as the final deadline to hold local body polls in the state.
Commenting on Bawankule's claims, Uddhav Sena leader Sanjay Raut demanded the BJP minister's arrest under the Indian Telegraph Act, The Times of India reported.
Raut also asked if Bawankule had acquired a “Pegasus-type surveillance machine” and installed it in the BJP office or employed private agents for this purpose.
Pegasus is a spyware developed by Israeli firm NSO Group that has allegedly been used in the unauthorised surveillance of journalists, activists and politicians across the world, including in India.
The Uddhav Sena MP claimed that surveillance was not limited to the BJP, The Indian Express reported.
“The phones of several Opposition leaders in Maharashtra are being tapped and their WhatsApp messages monitored,” the newspaper quoted Raut as saying. “Bawankule himself has said so.”
Raut added: “In fact, Bawankule, Ravindra Chavan, some builders from Mumbai and certain networks in Nagpur have come together to set up a ‘war room' from where even the phones of leaders of the [Shiv Sena's Eknath] Shinde faction are under surveillance.”
He alleged that leaders such as Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar, former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena founder Raj Thackeray, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and journalists were being surveilled.
Raut also said that Bawankule's claims were a “highly serious and potentially anti-national act”, The Indian Express reported.
He demanded that the Union home ministry and the authorities in the state take action and dismiss those responsible for the alleged surveillance. He also demanded legal proceedings against those involved in the matter.
The Uddhav Sena MP also questioned the neutrality of the administration, The Indian Express reported.
Amid the backlash, Bawankule said on Friday that the work done by BJP members, the comments that they make and their reactions on WhatsApp are “reviewed” through the party's war room, The Indian Express reported.
He described the groups as routine instruments for party organisation and feedback, The Times of India reported.
“During election time, everyone contributes to the party's activities,” The Indian Express quoted the minister as saying. “The focus is on ensuring that the work assigned by the party is carried out effectively.”
He added that the development schemes of the chief minister and the Modi government “are all monitored by us that is what I meant when I said we ‘keep an eye' on things”.
Bawankule also asked who Raut was to tell his party workers how to run the BJP.
“Why is he [Raut] so irritated?” the BJP leader said. “In our party, we regularly communicate with our workers and exchange ideas through WhatsApp. That is the context in which I made my statement.”
Source: Scroll
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