'Our phones still being tapped' : Sushma

New Delhi, July 12 (UNI) Alleging that the phones of key NDA MPs including that of her own were still being tapped, Ms Sushma Swaraj, the spokesperson for presidential candidate Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, today said the government denial in this regard was on the expected lines.

Speaking to newspersons Ms Swaraj reiterated her complaint and said she failed to get connection to her residential telephones after 12 attempts and the situation continues even now. ''Ultimately, I spoke to my home from my driver's telephone and was able to establish contact in the first attempt,'' she said.

She said leaders in the UPA government had denied the tapping in their own ''styles that suited their personalities''. While Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma had denied the tapping in a ''civilised manner'', the response of Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi contained ''unparliamentary words'' like ''foolish and rubbish''.

The third reaction was from Minister of Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhary who was not even willing to take notice of the complaint of phone tapping.

She said the NDA had not submitted its letter to Election Commission as Mr Arun Jaitley, BJP General Secretary, who has been entrusted with the task of handling all complaints in the presidential poll, wanted to have a look at the complaint personally.

''He is currently touring Bihar and the complaint will be filed once he returns,'' she said.

The NDA, she said, had set up a three-member panel headed by Mr Jaitley and BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad as a member to deal with all complaints relating to presidential polls. Mr Jaitley was authorised to choose the third person in the committee. Ms Swaraj had earlier announced that the NDA would be filing the complaint before the Election Commission seeking to view the phone tapping as a hurdle posed by the government.

Besides the phone tapping the NDA has been receiving complaints of electoral malpractices, the senior BJP leader alleged. ''This panel will go through the issues in detail and decide the way it should be dealt with,'' she said.

UNI