Supriya Sule may be under surveillance of govt agencies, claims NCP(SP)

Sharad Pawar's NCP on Wednesday claimed that its working president and MP Supriya Sule may be under the surveillance of government agencies and Pegasus spyware might be used to track her movements in the run-up to the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra. The claim comes just days after Sule, MP from Baramati, said her phone and WhatsApp account were hacked. 

The Pune police have filed a case against an unidentified person in this connection. In a statement, NCP (SP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase alleged Sule might be under the watch of government agencies. Sule recently claimed her husband, a businessman, got an income tax department notice and sought to link the action to critical remarks she made against the BJP-led central government in Parliament during the just concluded budget session. 

Tapase accused the BJP of resorting to desperate measures to undermine Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar, after failing to defeat her electorally. Sule won her fourth straight election from Baramati in the recent Lok Sabha polls, defeating Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar. "The BJP, which was determined to defeat Supriya Sule, finds itself in an uncomfortable position after her electoral success. In an attempt to weaken our party, they engineered a split in the NCP by luring Ajit Pawar (now deputy CM) to their side," Tapase maintained. 

The NCP (SP) spokesperson suggested the possibility of the Pegasus spyware being used to monitor the movements of opposition leaders ahead of the assembly elections in the state. "The BJP is known for keeping tabs on its political opponents and allegations of such nature have been made in the past. We fear the Pegasus spyware may be used to track the movements of opposition leaders, including Supriya Sule, in lead up to the state assembly elections," he claimed. 

"It is imperative for the Maharashtra home ministry to clarify whether any surveillance is being conducted on Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil (NCP-SP), Uddhav Thackerey (Shiv Sena-UBT), Nana Patole (Congress) or any other opposition leaders. Such actions, if true, would be a grave violation of democratic principles," he added.

(With inputs from PTI)