Striking a ‘‘me-too’’ note, the BJP on Monday claimed it received ‘‘credible information’’ four days ago that the landline phones of former party chief L K Advani had been tapped during the Volcker controversy. While the party demanded a thorough inquiry into the issue, Advani said he had no knowledge of his phone being tapped.Earlier, BJP president Rajnath Singh told the media that it was ‘‘a serious matter’’ and should be probed into immediately. Party spokesman Prakash Javadekar asked the government to call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue and ‘‘reassure the nation and the Opposition that henceforth no phones of senior political leaders be tapped’’.The BJP did not identify the source of the ‘‘credible information’’ on Advani’s phone tapping, nor could they explain why the information was not conveyed to Advani directly, particularly when he had been the country’s Home Minister for six years and headed the intelligence set-up. The delay in publicising the information also remained unexplained, sparking speculation that the BJP—sensing the political potential of the issue—had decided to join the phone-tapping bandwagon rather late.
