Surprised over the alleged bugging of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's office, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh today said the matter needs to be inquired into. I was literally surprised that the Finance Minister's office may be tapped,may be bugged. This is something which is unheard of and I think the government should take a sort of view on this and should inquire into who is responsible, he told NDTV. He was asked whether he was appalled to read about the suspected tapping of the Finance Minister's office in the backdrop of indications that 'all is not well' inside the Congress and the UPA. Asked whether the issue was a shame on the government,he remarked,Until and unless you know who has done it,how can you sort of say anything like that. Naturally,yes, he responded when asked whether the issue needed to be investigated. Congress spokespersons have so far maintained the Opposition was making a mountain out of a molehill by turning the matter into a political row. Govt says bugging bogus,matter should be closed New Delhi: The government today insisted there was no bugging of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's office,saying the whole thing is bogus and the matter should be closed now. I had myself talked to the Finance Minister last evening on this matter. There is nothing to take forward. The Finance Minister has categorically and emphatically stated (to the media) that it has been investigated and the answer is there has been no bugging, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni told reporters here. Mukherjee had maintained the Intelligence Bureau had not found any evidence of bugging and the substance found in 16 key places in the Finance Minister's office was chewing gum. The Finance Minister has said the whole thing is bogus and we should close the matter. Kindly don't spend more time and energy on this futile exercise, Soni said. There were reports the alleged bugging could have been done by the one of the rival ministries of the government. This had led the Opposition to say that there is trust deficit in the government. Asked about that,Soni said,The question does not arise.
