NCP's Supriya Sule retorts BJP over alleged back-channel talks, questions double standards

File Photo/PTI

In a scathing retort to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Supriya Sule, a Member of Parliament representing the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and a key figure in the Sharad Pawar faction, has raised questions regarding the BJP's integrity and consistency in its dealings with her party.

Sule's remarks come in response to recent statements made by Chhagan Bhujbal, a veteran NCP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, suggesting that the NCP and BJP had been involved in back-channel discussions. The revelations have raised eyebrows and led to a fiery exchange of words between the two political parties.

Speaking to reporters in Pune, Sule openly challenged the BJP, asking, "I want to ask the BJP; on one side, you called the NCP the 'Naturally Corrupt Party'... On the other side, (Chhagan) Bhujbal says that NCP and BJP were having discussions in the back channel... If the NCP is corrupt, then why was the BJP having negotiations with us? This shows that the allegations of corruption by the BJP were false. On one side, they were calling us corrupt, and on the other side, they were having back-channel discussions... Doesn't this show the double face of the BJP? ...They should clarify this."

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The NCP, led by Sharad Pawar, has been a vocal critic of the BJP, often accusing the ruling party of making baseless allegations and engaging in mudslinging politics. The "Naturally Corrupt Party" tag was a derogatory term used by some BJP members to refer to the NCP, emphasizing their allegations of corruption within the party.

The revelation of back-channel talks, however, has provided the NCP with ammunition to challenge the BJP's credibility. Sule's question about the BJP's contradictory stance regarding the NCP's alleged corruption is likely to fuel the ongoing political discourse.

Earlier, while speaking in Parliament on the Women's Reservation Bill, Sule had said that not every house has a brother who wants to see the welfare of the sister. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticizing his party for the last 10 years, but now he does not say that NCP is a corrupt party.

Sule said that BJP has always done politics of revenge. If the allegations made against us are true then we should be investigated and if the allegations are found to be false then BJP should apologize to us. On a question about BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri's derogatory remarks in the Lok Sabha against BSP MP Danish Ali, Sule said it was very unfortunate. He said that NCP and Trinamool Congress have already written to the Lok Sabha Speaker about the incident. (With inputs from ANI)