New Delhi: Differences in UPA over the issue of an inquiry into 'snoopgate' allegedly involving Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Sunday came to the fore with NCP opposing such a probe at this juncture.
"When the results of the Lok Sabha elections are due in two weeks time, where is the need for such an enquiry," NCP leader and Union minister Praful Patel told PTI.
Patel said that party chief Sharad Pawar has talked to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier in the day to convey the party's view in the matter. NCP is the second largest constituent of the Congress-led UPA.
The NCP stand came a day after Law Minister and Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that the government plans to name a judge for the inquiry before counting of votes for the general elections scheduled on May 16.
It was alleged that illegal surveillance was carried out on a young woman in Gujarat in 2009 at the behest of Modi.
Amit Shah was the Home Minister of the state at that time.
Defending the Centre's move, Sibal had asked why it was being questioned when Modi government itself had set up a probe panel into the issue, showing that there was something to be investigated.
He had also said that the state government's probe panel, which was supposed to give its report within three months, has not held a single meeting till date.
Another Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singvi has also backed his party's decision to name a judge before May 16 and said that the 'snoopgate' probe was not personal but a matter of public interest.
BJP has accused Congress of laying down an "agenda of confrontation" and suggested that it will be "reciprocated" once the saffron party comes to power.
