‘Hello, Mr Modi’: Rahul Gandhi quips, says ‘presume my phone being tapped’

The Congress leader was disqualified as a Member of Parliament earlier this year after he was convicted by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark.

“I am very clear, our fight is our fight,” he said. “But there is a group of young students from India here. I want to have a relationship with them and want to talk to them. It’s my right to do it,” he said during his interaction with Indian students and academicians of Indian origin at the university here.

‘Hello! Mr Modi,’ Rahul Gandhi jokingly says, alleging that his phone is tapped

Later, while speaking with a group of Silicon Valley-based startup entrepreneurs, the Congress leader also discussed the issue of data privacy. Speaking about the issue of Pegasus spyware, he told the audience that he is not worried about it.  At one point, he jokingly said, “Hello! Mr Modi” on his iPhone. “I presume my iPhone is being tapped. You need to establish rules with regard to privacy of data information as a nation and also as an individual,” he said.

“If a nation state decides that they want to tap your phone, no one can stop you. This is my sense,” he said. “If the nation is interested in tapping phone, then this is not a battle worth fighting. I think whatever I do and work, is available to the government,” he claimed.

The Congress leader was attending a panel discussion at the Plug and Play Tech Centre, which is one of the largest incubators of startups.

‘There is need to have appropriate regulations on data safety and security’

At the event, Gandhi described data as the “new gold”, adding that there is a need to have appropriate regulations on data safety and security.

“If you want to spread any technology in India, you have to have a system where power is relatively decentralised,” he said, and went on to share with the select group of invited entrepreneurs his personal experience of drone technology and its regulation, which, according to him, “faced massive bureaucratic hurdles”.

Rahul Gandhi on India-China’s ‘tough’ relationship

Gandhi also spoke about the difficult relationship between India and its neighbour, China. Asked how he saw the relationship between the two countries evolving over the next decade, he responded: “It’s tough right now. I mean, they’ve occupied some of our territory. It’s rough. It’s not too easy (a relationship).”

“India cannot be pushed around. That something is not going to happen,” Gandhi said. India and China are also locked in a lingering border standoff in eastern Ladakh for three years. The bilateral relationship came under severe strain following the deadly clash in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June 2020.

Earlier during the trip, the Congress leader had hit out at the Modi government, saying the construction of the new Parliament building and the installation of the “Sengol” (sceptre) are attempts to divert attention from the “real issues” like unemployment and price rise.

Addressing a gathering of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) at Santa Clara in California, Rahul took a swipe at PM Modi, saying the latter was among those who think they know everything and can even tell God “what is going on.” “Our Prime Minister is one such specimen,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)