Supriya Sule (née Pawar; born 30 June 1969) is an Indian politician from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and currently a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha representing Baramati since 2009, leader of Nationalist Congress Party (SP) in Lok Sabha since 2014 and the Working National President of Nationalist Congress Party since 2023. Previously, she served as the Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra from 2006 to 2009. In 2011, she launched a state-wide campaign against female foeticide. Recently, she has been honored with Mumbai Women of the Decade Achievers Award by All Ladies League for social service. She is the daughter of Sharad Pawar, chief of Nationalist Congress Party (SP).

Early life

Sule was born to Indian politician and Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar and his wife Pratibha Pawar on 30 June 1969 in Pune. She passed her SSC from St.Columba School, Gamdevi. She was educated at Jai Hind College in Mumbai, achieving a B.Sc. degree in microbiology.

Political career

Sule was elected to the Rajya Sabha in the September 2006 intake from Maharashtra and is a trustee of the Nehru Centre in Mumbai. She led the state level campaign against female foeticide. The campaign included padayatras, college events, competitions etc. In 2012, under the leadership of Sule, the wing named Rashtravadi Yuvati Congress was formed to give platform to young girls in politics. For past several months, several rallies have been organised all over Maharashtra which focused on female fetus abortion, dowry system and women empowerment in general. Sule is known for her exemplary parliamentary engagement as a member of the Lok Sabha, with her emerging as one of the Best Performers In Lok Sabha on multiple occasions. Member of parliament from Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency of Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) from couple of terms she is sitting MP from Baramati (2014-Present).

IPL allegations

In June 2010, Sule denied allegations of involvement in the Indian Premier League (IPL), when reports on IPL irregularities in its ownership and functioning surfaced and led to Shashi Tharoor, India's Minister of State for External Affairs to resign. However, there were reports that her husband owned (via a power of attorney from his father) 10% of a firm that had exclusive multi-year broadcasting rights for IPL matches. In June 2010, The Economic Times, India's largest business newspaper, reported that Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule owned 16.22 percent of a firm that had bid for the Pune franchise of IPL. She had previously stated, "I say with full conviction that my husband or my family has nothing to do with these issues (the IPL bids) ... We always stay miles away from it. Yes, we are avid cricket watchers, my husband, my kids, my family, all, and that's where the buck stops." When challenged on this, she said she was just a minority shareholder and cannot be responsible for the firm's actions.

Personal life

She married Sadanand Bhalchandra Sule on 4 March 1991. They have one son - Vijay and one daughter - Revati. After marriage, she spent some time in California, where she studied water pollution at UC Berkeley. Subsequently, she moved to Indonesia and Singapore and then returned to Mumbai.

Electoral performance