Mumbai: Congress MP Priya Dutt had, till now, chosen not to respond to her brother Sanjay Dutt's controversial allegations against the Congress party. Soon after he was barred from contesting elections, the actor-turned-Samajwadi Party member had accused the Congress of causing Sunil Dutt's death by taking Sanjay Nirupam into the party.
He had also said that the Congress did not help him when he was in jail. Priya Dutt has now spoken out in defence of her party, and said she completely disagrees with the allegations.
NDTV: One of the issues that Sanjay Dutt raised in a recent interview was that he was very upset when Sanjay Nirupam was brought into the party and that hastened your fathers death, is that something you agree with?
Priya Dutt: No I don't. Yes my father was distressed and my father did convey that to the party but my father was not such a weak man. He had gone through a lot in his life, he was a victim of partition, he had seen a lot of highs and lows in his life. Something like that would not hasten his health or cause his health to deteriorate. I think he lived a full life and even when he went, he had his boots on.
NDTV: He also gave an interview saying the Congress did not support him when he was in jail and let him down. Do you agree that the party didn't do enough?
Priya Dutt: No I don't agree with that. The matter was sub-judice. It was a judicial matter. We as a family did everything we could in the course of law. His case was fought in the Supreme Court and the TADA court and I don't think congress had a role to play for him to get so disappointed by the Congress. And the Congress has always stood by us. Even when my father was an MP. The fact is that he always stood by Congress, even after Sanjay was in jail for so many years. The fact was that he believed in the Congress and was not disappointed by the Congress.