Maharashtra News: ‘My husband gets Income Tax notice every time I speak against govt in Parliament,’ claims Supriya Sule

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule has claimed that her husband Sadanand Sule got an income tax notice after her speech in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament that ended last week.

"We have received a notice from the income tax department soon after the budget session," she revealed, adding, "I don't know if it is a coincidence, but every time I speak in Parliament, Sadanand Sule (her husband) gets a notice from income tax," Sule, the Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) from Baramati said during a press conference on August 12.

She said it has become routine now that whenever she speaks in the Parliament against this (BJP) government, her husband gets a notice from the income tax department.

Speaking on Waqf Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha on August 8, Sule requested the government to either withdraw this bill completely or send it to a standing committee. The bill was eventually sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for scrutiny.

She said she has asked her husband to compile data regarding these notices. She said the family had had received similar notices six to seven times in the past concerning an old case that her husband has addressed already.

Sule also confirmed the WhatsApp accounts of three individuals, including herself, had been ‘hacked’ last week. Among the victims were a non-political person and the party's general secretary, Aditi Nalawade, she said.

“With agencies like the Income Tax Department, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at its disposal, the government doesn’t need an application to hack into the phones of political opponents. There could be some form of surveillance,” she said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party reacted to Sule's comments saying that she should be afraid of investigation if she had nothing to hide. "CBI, ED are agencies that work independently and if you don't have anything to hide then you should not be afraid of investigation," BJP leader and Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI

Supriya Sule emerged victorious in the Lok Sabha polls from the Baramati seat, defeating the National Congress Party's Sunetra Pawar.

Sule 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 said.

Sule also criticised the state Finance Minister Ajit Pawar for his absence from GST council meetings. “If the state’s finance minister does not attend these meetings and discuss tax issues, how can any such issues be resolved or the state’s demands be met?” she asked.