NCP seeks action against Shinde faction leader for sharing 'morphed' photo of Supriya Sule sitting on CM chair

The NCP had on Friday accused Lok Sabha member Shrikant Shinde, son of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, of sitting in a chair meant for his father, although the parliamentarian from Kalyan had claimed that the picture had been taken at the office at their private residence.

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party on Saturday accused the spokesperson of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction of sharing a "morphed" photo of Baramati MP Supriya Sule sitting on the chief minister's chair, and urged the Mumbai police to take action. Incidentally, the NCP had on Friday accused Lok Sabha member Shrikant Shinde, son of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, of sitting in a chair meant for his father, although the parliamentarian from Kalyan had claimed that the picture had been taken at the office at their private residence.

Sheetal Mhatre, who is the spokesperson of the Shinde-led Sena faction, tweeted a photo of NCP MP Sule sitting on the chief minister's chair. In the post, Mhatre also asked "Look who is sitting on the chief minister's chair". The photo shows Sule sitting on a chair and behind her there is a board with "Maharashtra Government - Chief Minister" written on it. It also shows her being flanked by former ministers and NCP leaders Dilip Walse Patil and Rajesh Tope.

Mhatre also posted a picture of Yuva Sena leader Varun Sardesai attending a meeting chaired by the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray at the state secretariat. Accusing Mhatre of posting a morphed picture, the NCP urged the Mumbai police's cyber cell to take action. Ravikant Varpe, a state spokesman of the NCP, accused Mhatre of maligning the image of Supriya Sule and asked the police to act against her. He tagged the Mumbai police in his tweet.

Aditi Nalawade, an NCP functionary and close aide of Supriya Sule, posted a tweet in which she asked Mhatre to be original. "Be original. Copies fail too fast," she said. She also posted some pictures saying Walse Patil and Tope had attended a virtual meeting of COVID management called by PM Modi from Mantralaya, while former CM Uddhav Thackeray participated from Varsha, the official residence. Nalawade also said that Sule's original picture was from one of the NCP functions. (PTI)