Lawmakers from opposition parties in the Upper House of India's Parliament whipped up a frenzy on Tuesday as they demanded that three controversial farm laws passed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government in 2020 be repealed.
In a video tweeted by Trinamool Congress (TMC) politician Derek O'Brien, MPs can be seen standing on tables and raising signs emblazoned with slogans slamming the Modi government. Opposition parties have united to force a discussion about the federal government using the military-grade Pegasus spyware – developed and sold by Israeli firm NSO Group – to snoop on people.
The lawmakers filmed their own protests before sharing the footage on social media because state-funded television channels chose not to broadcast the scenes on TV.
Indian National Congress leader from Punjab Pratap Singh Bajwa faced heavy criticism from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after he climbed on top of a table and threw files at the speaker's chair.
Taking to Twitter, BJP lawmaker from West Bengal Raju Bista wrote: "This is absolutely disgusting and highly deplorable. Congress MP Pratap Singh Bajwa ji threw files at the Chair in Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) today and the entire opposition celebrated creating ruckus in the Parliament Where is the decency and decorum?"
The opposition has accused the Modi government of shying away from a debate about Pegasus and the farm laws. Thousands of farmers, mostly from the northern state of Punjab, have been protesting at three different points on the outskirts of Delhi in a bid to get the legislation overturned.
According to reports published by a consortium of media outlets, the spyware was used by a client of NSO to snoop on around 300 Indian phone numbers, including those of journalists, politicians, government officials, and activists.
Indian National Congress lawmaker Rahul Gandhi, TMC lawmaker Abhishek Banerjee, poll strategist Prashant Kishor, Indian Army officials, federal Information and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Jal Shakti Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, and former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa were some of the prominent names that featured in the list.
However, both NSO and the Indian government have denied any involvement in the snooping row.