Nationalist Congress Party working president Supriya Sule on Sunday said she was proud to be the daughter of Sharad and Pratibha Pawar and that she would never run away from nepotism or dynasty politics. 'I can't go away from nepotism because I was born in a political family. I am very proud to be Pratibha and Sharad Pawar's daughter. Why should I run away from this? I have even said this in Parliament," Supriya Sule said a day after Sharad Pawar elevated her to the post of the working president along with Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel. The announcement triggered reaction and speculations that Sharad Pawar sidelined nephew Ajit Pawar to promote his daughter. "If only Sharad Pawar love his nephew as much as Mamata Banerjee loves hers," BJP's Amit Malviya tweeted in a jibe.
'Parliament is not run by my father'
"Why can't we talk about performance while we talk about dynasty politics? Look at my Parliament performance. Now Parliament is not run by my father, uncle or my mother. But that performance data in the Lok Sabha shows that I am on the top of the chart. There is no dynasty politics. That's on merit. I think you can't selectively use nepotism against me or anybody," Supriya Sule said.
Sharad Pawar on choosing daughter over nephew
While Supriya Sule and Praful Patel's elevation to the rank of the working president dents Ajit Pawar in the party, Sharad Pawar downplayed it and said Ajit Pawar was one of those who took the decision of making Supriya Sule and Praful Patel the working presidents of the party. Sharad Pawar on Saturday said Ajit Pawar already had a lot on his plate as the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, while Supriya Sule and Praful Patel had no such defined responsibilities. On the allegation of dynasty politics, Sharad Pawar said it was not his decision.
"This is a conscious decision by the entire party and not me alone. If I had to make a decision, why would I have waited all these years," Sharad Pawar said.
{{/usCountry}}"This is a conscious decision by the entire party and not me alone. If I had to make a decision, why would I have waited all these years," Sharad Pawar said.
{{/usCountry}}"Who says he is unhappy? Has anyone asked him? Reports are gossip. What is the reality? Of course, it is different," Supriya Sule said on reports of Ajit Pawar being upset over her elevation.
Ajit Pawar officially cleared the air and said Supriya was doing well in the national politics while his focus was in Maharashtra. "I am interested mainly in Maharashtra politics, so I have always cleared that point in the party. For the past several years, Supriya is in Delhi. Praful Patel and I became MP at the same time in 1991, but as I was not interested in national politics, I resigned and joined state politics," Ajit Pawar said adding that he was happy with the decision.