Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today dismissed the Congress charge of "political espionage" and said enquiries made about Rahul Gandhi was a routine affair.
"This is an exercise (which has been) going on since 1947 and the proforma procedure was formalised in 1957 by Delhi Police," the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister said here.
Congress protested strongly in the Rajya Sabha on the issue of "snooping" over Gandhi by Delhi Police.
Taking potshots at Congress, Naidu said its leaders protesting over routine issue in the House is nothing but "scoring self goal by the party and it is boomeranging on them.
He also criticised the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government saying during its regime the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had complained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about alleged bugging in his office.
In fact, the then Finance Minister had hired a private detective agency to unravel the bugging device installed in his office. After receiving the complaint, the then PM has instructed the IB to do a thorough probe.
Defending the exercise of preparing database of important person, Naidu said former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed in a bomb blast, was identified by the shoe he was wearing.
The proforma for collating information for maintaining profiles of leaders was revised in 1999 through which the Delhi Police seek personal information including the dress and shoes usually worn, moustache/beard, colour of the eye, special identification of marks, gait, education, date of birth, etc.
This kind of a database is maintained and updated every three-four years. He said this is a routine exercise and the question of espionage does not arise.
