India, Dec. 3 -- The Congress on Wednesday criticised the government's proposed move to install the 'Sanchar Saathi' mobile application, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) Centre of attempting to create "a surveillance state" through what it described as an intrusion into citizens' private lives.

"Safety is an excuse, the target is privacy," said Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera during a press conference in New Delhi, alleging that the move amounted to a systematic breach of privacy by the Union government.

Meanwhile, the central government has decided not to make the Sanchar Saathi application pre-installation mandatory for mobile manufacturers.

Before the government's decision, the Congress, earlier in the day, alleged th...