New Delhi, October 31 Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the phone hacking of Opposition leaders is part of the ruling BJP’s “distraction politics” to divert attention from promotion of Gautam Adani as a monopoly by the present government.

Addressing a press conference with party general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and KC Venugopal, Gandhi said, “Whenever we touch Adani, intelligence agencies, snooping, CBI is unleashed.”

He said it is the “handiwork” of Adani who is in “total control of things” and he was now the most powerful man in the country. “I used to earlier think that it is Mr Modi, Mr Amit Shah and Mr Adani, that is the order. But now I have understood that it is Mr Adani, ahead of Mr Modi and Mr Shah,” he said.

Gandhi said he is not distracted by these “diversionary tactics” and has clarity on how snooping, investigating agencies and Ffake charges” are cooked up against the Opposition to shield Adani. “Ports, airports everything is being handed over to him. He is now the biggest monopoly in the country… I have nothing personal against him but it is the structure he represents,” he said.

Gandhi said Apple has sent notices to everyone in his office. “I have a list – Sitaram Yechury, Mohua Moitra, Pawan Khera, people in my office, Gaurav Chadha, they have all received similar notices from Apple,” he said, reading out from the Apple notice. “But we are not distracted. Nor are we intimidated by these tactics,” he said.