Arnab Goswami’s chats with former BARC CEO: CWC calls it breach of ‘national security’, demands JPC probe

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) – the top decision-making body of the grand old party – on Friday passed a resolution demanding a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the WhatsApp chats between Republic TV’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and former BARC CEO, Partho Dasgupta.

Saying that these chats endangered national security, the CWC noted that references made in the chats to certain events involved persons sitting in the highest echelons of power.

“It is shocking that days after the revelations, the Prime Minister and the Central government remain silent on the issue as though the storm will pass. Their silence underlines their collusion, complicity and guilt,” it said.

“The CWC demands a time-bound investigation by a Joint Parliamentary Committee to enquire into the breach of national security, violations of the Official Secrets Act and the role of the person involved,” reads the statement issued by the CWC.

Referring to the ongoing farmers’ protests, the CWC said that “the Modi government is determined to sacrifice farmers' interest at the altar of a handful of crony industrialist friends.”

Reiterating that the newly-enacted farm laws must be repealed, CWC noted, “When implemented, these will affect every citizen of the country as pricing of all food products would be at the mercy of a handful of people. This is unacceptable in an inclusive India.”

Hitting out at the Modi government for not listening to the agitating farmers even as 147 of them have lost their lives, the CWC said, “The three laws impinge upon the constitutional rights of states and constitute the first step in dismantling the three pillars of the edifice of food security built up over the past decades — MSP, Public Procurement and PDS.”

“CWC also notes that the three laws did not pass the test of parliamentary scrutiny as they were bulldozed by muzzling the voice of the Opposition. Particularly in Rajya Sabha, the three laws were passed by voice vote in an unprecedented fashion as the government did not have the requisite majority on the floor,” it said.