Supriya Sule ticks-off Himanta Biswa Sarma for his Israel-Hamas remark

The verbal missives began after NCP veteran Sharad Pawar said India always “stood firmly with Palestine”

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule on Thursday hit back at Assam Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Himanta Biswa Sarma for suggesting that her father, NCP chief Sharad Pawar would send Ms. Sule to Gaza to fight for the Palestinian extremist outfit Hamas.

Speaking in Mumbai, Ms. Sule took a jibe at the Assam CM, a former Congressman, by remarking that she was surprised at how Mr. Sarma’s attitude towards women had changed once he went over to the ruling BJP.

“I am surprised [at Mr. Sarma’s remark] because Himanta Biswa Sarma has the same DNA as me. He is originally from the Congress. He and I share the same Congress DNA...You know how the BJP is disrespectful towards women. But I had hopes from Himanta Biswa Sarma. I am surprised how this change has happened towards women and the approach, probably going into BJP is a little rubbing off on him,” quipped Ms. Sule, the NCP-Sharad Pawar faction MP from Baramati in Pune.

Mr. Pawar, while recently addressing a meeting of his party workers, had said that India always supported the cause of Palestine, while claiming that Israel was an ‘outsider’ who had “encroached” on Palestinian land.

Taking aim at PM Modi, Mr. Pawar had said that former PMs like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had all supported the Palestine cause and that Mr. Modi’s recent statements on the raging Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza seemed to convey a different position from the one previously articulated by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Mr. Pawar’s remarks had met with strong condemnation by the BJP top brass, with Mr. Sarma stating: “I think Sharad Pawar will send Supriya (Sule) to Gaza to fight for Hamas.”

Hinting that the BJP had distorted Mr. Pawar’s remarks, Ms. Sule further said that the BJP IT cell needed to understand and hear carefully what her father had actually said.