No backdoor talks with BJP: Supriya Sule

Dismissing speculations over NCP (SP) leaders’ meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, party’s working president Supriya Sule on Wednesday clarified that there was no political strategy behind the interactions.

While addressing a press conference, Sule noted that Jayant Patil had officially sought an appointment with Fadnavis for raising the issue of action taken against an NCP (SP) municipal council president, PTI reported.

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“Jayant Patil officially sought time from the chief minister, went in his car and returned in his car. There was nothing secretive about the meeting. If you want to know who else met the chief minister at his residence, you should ask the chief minister, not me,” Sule said.

On Tuesday night, leaders from the ruling NCP and NCP (SP) reportedly held a meeting at ‘Varsha,’ the official residence of the chief minister. This has fuelled specualtion regarding a major change in political equations in the state.

This came as senior Congress leader P Chidambaram claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was wooing the Sharad Pawar-led party as well as the DMK to get their support for the 131st Constitution Amendment Bill, proposing to raise Lok Sabha seats to 850 and initiate delimitation during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which will begin from July 20.

Rejected the speculations, Sule quipped that people have been predicting her swearing-in and ministerial portfolio for the past 12 years.

“The chief minister alone decides who gets which portfolio. All these reports about the finance department or meetings at Varsha are speculative. Only the chief minister can answer such questions,” she said.

On her meetings with leaders across political parties, Sule said, “My breakfast yesterday was with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the ‘One Nation, One Election’ meeting. Later, I met MPs Dimple Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav because we share family relations. Every meeting should not be interpreted as political plotting”.

She further stated that the INDIA bloc will formulate its stand on the proposed delimitation exercise only after the government placed the bill before Parliament.

“We have not received any proposal on delimitation. Once the bill comes, we will discuss it in detail within the INDIA alliance. We had earlier demanded the formula in writing. We cannot comment without seeing the legislation,” PTI quoted her as saying.

Cautioning against any arbitrary delimitation exercise, Sule said constituency boundaries should be redrawn strictly based on established legal norms and not to suit any political party.

She said she will take part in the INDIA bloc meeting on July 19 as well as the all-party meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on July 20.