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No enmity with Sanjay: Priya

Mumbai: Scoffing at reports that all is not well between her and her actor-brother Sanjay Dutt, Congress Member of Parliament Priya Dutt on Wednesday said that their relationship was above petty politics.

“Fighting over contesting Lok Sabha election is the last thing we can even think of. There is no animosity between us. In fact, being the youngest in the family, my decision to contest the by-election after our father’s death was taken in consultation with Sanjay ,” Priya said.

Priya said she had always maintained that she does not have “ownership” of the Lok Sabha constituency represented by her father for five consecutive terms.

“After his (her father’s) death, the ticket to contest the by-election was given to me by the party as a responsibility. I have tried to live up to the responsibility with all efforts. If the party re-nominates me, Sanjay will be very happy and he will support my candidature. So will I if Sanjay is given the ticket,” she said.

Without naming any Congress functionary from her parliamentary constituency, Priya admitted that there was a sustained effort to create differences between her and her brother.

Priya said her Mumbai North-West parliamentary constituency had now been split into Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North West.

She lamented that factors like religion and caste had seeped deep into electoral politics, aimed at dividing the voters.

“This kind of polarisation is bad for the society and the nation,” she added. –– PTI

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No enmity with Sanjay: Priya

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