‘Leaders leaving NCP (SP) because of Supriya Sule’: Sonia Doohan

NCP (SP) students wing national president Sonia Doohan criticizes Baramati MP Supriya Sule for failing to become a leader, leading to party members leaving.

MUMBAI: NCP (SP) students wing national president Sonia Doohan on Tuesday criticised Baramati MP Supriya Sule, saying that she had failed to become their leader. “Several leaders are leaving the party because of her style of functioning and the people around her,” she alleged, pointing to Dheeraj Sharma, national president, youth wing, who left the NCP (SP) and joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction on Monday.

National president of the NCP students’ wing, Sonia Doohan. (HT Photo)

“Pawar saheb will remain our leader forever but Sule, who we will respect as his daughter, failed to become our leader,” said Doohan. “Leaders like us, who are ready to go to any extent for Pawar saheb, are compelled to leave the party.” Doohan asked Sule to introspect on why people had been leaving the party in recent times.

Sule was appointed as the national working president of the party last year. Within months of her elevation, Ajit chose to split the party and join the BJP along with most of the NCP legislators.

Doohan, who was considered a trusted aide of Sharad Pawar, is currently serving as the national president of the students wing of NCP (SP). She was the one who successfully executed the rescue operation of five MLAs from a five-star hotel in Gurugram in November 2019 following a split in the NCP led by Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar. All the five MLAs—Babasaheb Patil, Daulat Daroda, Anil Patil, Nitin Pawar and Narhari Zirwal—were shifted to Haryana to a heavily guarded, undisclosed location, from where Doohan not only rescued them but also brought them back to Pawar’s Mumbai residence.

Doohan also clarified that although she was preparing to leave the NCP (SP), she was not going to join any other political party. There were speculations that Doohan would join the Ajit Pawar-led NCP along with Dheeraj Sharma. NCP insiders said that she was also approached by the party along with many other leaders.