Reports of US spying on BJP 'serious'; Government cross-checking facts: Minister

New Delhi: Stating that reports of spying on BJP by the USA were "serious", Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the government would take up the matter.

The minister's comments came in response to reports that America's National Security Agency (NSA) was authorised by a US court in 2010 to carry out surveillance of BJP along with five other political organisations across the globe.

"This is serious. We will definitely see what has actually happened. If some organisation was targeted... it is serious. We will definitely take up the issue after we cross-check the facts," Javadekar, the Information and Broadcasting minister, told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday.

BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy, meanwhile, said the matter was of "deep concern" and needed to be authenticated.

"Edward Snowden's revelation of spying of BJP needs to be authenticated. If true, MEA must respond appropriately. (It is) a matter of deep concern," Mr Rudy said.

The in-charge of BJP's media cell, Shrikant Sharma, said, "It is a serious matter. If there is any truth in media reports then the government will look into it."

According to documents made public by Washington Post on Monday, BJP is listed along with the Pakistan Peoples Party and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood among outfits for whom the NSA had sought permission to carry out surveillance.

Other foreign organisations on the surveillance list include Lebanon's Amal, the Bolivarian Continental Coordinator of Venezuela and the Egyptian National Salvation Front.

The document lists 193 foreign governments as well as foreign factions and other entities that were part of a 2010 certification approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The list includes India.

"These are the entities about which the NSA may conduct surveillance for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence," the paper said citing documents provided to it by Snowden.