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Sujay Vikhe-Patil denies taking credit for cousin Nila’s Sweden win
Differences within the Vikhe-Patil family have spilled out into the open following a public exchange between member of the Swedish Parliament Nila Vikhe-Patil and her uncle Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and cousin Sujay Vikhe-Patil over her recent electoral victory
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Differences within the Vikhe-Patil family have spilled out into the open following a public exchange between member of the Swedish Parliament Nila Vikhe-Patil and her uncle Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and cousin Sujay Vikhe-Patil over her recent electoral victory.
Nila – who was elected to the Swedish Parliament from the Stockholm City constituency on September 13 on a Green Party ticket - questioned the attempts by her uncle and cousin to associate themselves with her victory saying that she had not been in contact with them for nearly a decade.
The issue surfaced after Sujay, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Ahilyanagar, remarked that while one member of the Vikhe-Patil family had lost the Lok Sabha (LS) election in India, another had won a parliamentary election in Sweden. Sujay had lost the 2024 LS election from Ahilyanagar to Nationalist Congress Party/NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar/SP) MP Nilesh Lanke.
Following Sujay’s remarks, Nila said that she was surprised by them and that neither Sujay nor Radhakrishna should take credit for her electoral success.
“I had seen a video where Sujay is boasting about how one Vikhe-Patil family member was defeated in India and another one tasted victory in Sweden. His comments have surprised me since I have not been in contact with either my uncle or cousin for over a decade,” Nila said.
Nila is the daughter of educationist Ashok Vikhe-Patil, Radhakrishna’s elder brother. She said that Radhakrishna had called to congratulate her after her victory, but maintained that her political journey was independent of the politics practised by her uncle and cousin.
“I will never change my party,” she said, referring to her association with the Green Party. Nila has previously worked as a political adviser in the Swedish prime minister’s office and served on the Stockholm City Council.
Her remarks also drew a response from Lanke, who took an indirect swipe at the Vikhe-Patils in a post on X.
“Make your achievements so great that those who refused to recognise you until yesterday are forced to take your name to showcase their own greatness,” Lanke said while congratulating Nila on her election.
Sujay has now responded to both Nila and Lanke, saying that his comments were not intended to claim credit for her victory.
“I am surprised that when Maharashtra is facing so many issues, including drought-like conditions and several pressing state matters, our family affairs are being discussed publicly. We were not even aware that Nila had become an MP in Sweden. When some journalists asked for my reaction, I shared my feelings on the issue. We have lived as one family. I simply said we are happy if a member of our family has become an MP,” Sujay said.
He said that his remark that one Vikhe-Patil had lost in India while another had won in Sweden was made in a lighter vein.
“Where does the question of taking credit arise? She is working there on her own merit, and we are working here on ours,” Sujay said.
“Even if we are not in touch, when a family member achieves something big, we express positive sentiments. This is what has been taught to us by my late grandfather Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil and we are following that,” he added.
Sujay also criticised Lanke for commenting on the family issue, saying that the latter should not involve himself in their affairs.
“Lanke has done nothing to develop his constituency. He has no right to play politics with our family,” Sujay said.
The public exchange has brought into focus strained relations within the politically-prominent Vikhe-Patil family, with Nila’s election in Sweden becoming the trigger for an unusually open airing of those differences.
