BJP on Sunday hit back at Congress for its demand of a probe into the alleged illegal surveillance of a woman by Gujarat government, saying it was the ruling party and its "surrogates" which had committed a crime by bringing the details in public.
Party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said Congress has no locus standi to demand a probe when neither the woman at the centre of the controversy, nor her family members, have said anything to this effect.
She asserted that the surveillance of the woman was legal and done at the behest of Shah.
"We cannot disclose the nature of the case for obvious reasons. There was nothing illegal about it," she said.
Lekhi accused Congress of bringing a private affair into the public domain for political gains.
"It is nothing but an attempt in character assassination. If anybody has violated her right to privacy and laws of the land, it is the Congress party and its surrogates," she said, alleging that websites which released the tapes were acting at the party's behest.
The entire episode is an outcome of the increasing nervousness in Congress over Modi's rising popularity, she said.
Two investigative portals, Cobrapost and Gulail, had claimed on November 15 that Amit Shah, the former home minister of Gujarat and Modi's close aide, had ordered illegal surveillance of a woman architect in 2009 at the behest of one "saheb".
They had released taped conversation between Shah and an IPS officer to back up their claim, adding that its authenticity could not be confirmed.
Congress has demanded an inquiry by a sitting or retired Supreme Court judge into the matter to fix accountability.
The party also targeted Narendra Modi over the issue, saying he "does not deserve" to be BJP's prime ministerial candidate if the claim on illegal spying is found to be true.
