The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Wednesday alleged that party MP Supriya Sule might be under the surveillance of certain agencies and that Pegasus spyware might be used against her ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls. This comes days after Sule’s phone and WhatsApp account were hacked.
In a statement, NCP(SP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of resorting to desperate measures to undermine Sule after failing to defeat her electorally. "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 to their side," Tapase said.
He further expressed concern over the possibility of the Pegasus spyware being used to monitor the movements of Opposition leaders ahead of the polls. "The BJP is known for keeping tabs on its political opponents and allegations of such nature have been made in the past. We fear that the Pegasus spyware may be used to track the movements of Opposition leaders, including Supriya Sule, in the run-up to the Maharashtra Assembly elections," Tapase stated.
In light of these allegations, Tapase has demanded that the Maharashtra Home Department issue an immediate clarification regarding any such surveillance activities. "It is imperative that the Maharashtra Home Ministry clarify whether any surveillance is being conducted on Supriya Sule, Uddhav Thackeray, Jayant Patil, Nana Patole or any other Opposition leaders. Such actions, if true, would be a grave violation of democratic principles," he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Pune Police registered a case against an unidentified person in connection with the hacking of Sule's phone and WhatsApp account. An official stated, "We have registered a case against an unidentified person under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act. An investigation is underway."
Sule on Monday revealed that the hackers demanded USD 400 from her team via a message following the hacking of her WhatsApp account. She further urged people to be cautious and use additional security measures for their phones and WhatsApp accounts. “The incident needs to be taken seriously by the government, the service providers, and us as well. We all need a firewall, as privacy is our choice,” she concluded.
(With IANS inputs)
