Phone-tapping of Oppn leaders not Maharashtra's tradition, MVA govt free to probe it: Fadnavis

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Jan 24 (ANI): Refuting the allegations that the former BJP-Shiv Sena government had conducted phone-tapping of opposition leaders, former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government could order a probe into it by any agency of its choice.
"Phone tapping of opposition leaders is not a tradition of Maharashtra. Our government never gave such an order. The present state government is free to do any probe by any agency. Even Shiv Sena leaders were a part of the State Home Ministry then," Fadnavis told reporters here.
Attacking the leaders who had raised the allegations, Fadnavis said, "The whole nation knows what is the political credibility of the people who had made complaints about this issue."
The BJP leader urged the state government to "investigate the issue as soon as possible to bring the truth out in front of the people".
Earlier today, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Anil Deshmukh said that the previous BJP government in the state had engaged in the tapping of phones of Congress and NCP leaders.
"When the BJP government was in power in Maharashtra, before the general and legislative assembly elections, they tapped phones of NCP and Congress leaders to keep a tab on their activities. They sent their officials to Israel to get the software for phone-tapping. We have started an investigation of the matter," Deshmukh told reporters here.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut had also alleged that a senior BJP leader had informed him about the tapping of his phone.
"Your phone is being tapped, I have been informed by a senior BJP minister," Raut claimed in a tweet. (ANI)