NDA convener and former Defence minister George Fernandes today alleged that he was ‘‘under surveillance’’ of Government sleuths and resented being trailed by them. ‘‘Let me tell you in so many words that just as I do not wish to have any security cover, I resent being trailed by the Government’s undercover agents,’’ he said in a two-page letter to Home Minister Shivraj Patil, following reports that he was among nine politicians under the Intelligence Bureau’s ‘‘constant surveillance’’ for their ‘‘potential to destabilise’’ the Government. ‘‘What the Government is doing to me is transgressing all canons of human rights and my constitutional rights,” he said, urging Patil to ‘‘undo this Mussolinian activity in democratic India.’’ Despite ‘‘repeated requests’’ not to be given a security cover, he added, there are always seven to eight plainclothesmen outside his house. Meanwhile, the Centre dismissed reports of ‘‘constant surveillance’’. ‘‘It is false and mischievous and seems to have been spread by the Opposition for publicity,’’ said Minister of State for Home S. Jaiswal.
