Supriya Sule

Mumbai, July 18: After refusing to speculate on a possible political career in numerous media interviews till early this year, Sharad Pawar’s reclusive daughter Supriya Sule has formally joined his party.

The Maharashtra strongman had kept the 37-year-old Supriya’s (in picture) name out when he named the Nationalist Congress Party’s second line of leadership in an article in party mouthpiece Rashtravadi last November. Yet, on Monday, her induction raised very few eyebrows.

“It is a known fact that the NCP’s second-generation leaders ? R.R. Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal, or even Praful Patel, don’t exactly dote on Ajit Pawar, Sharadji’s nephew. The chief couldn’t have risked their discontent,” a senior state NCP leader said.

Ajit, who looks after Pawar’s Baramati constituency along with Supriya’s computer engineer husband Sadanand, is Maharashtra’s minister for water resources, water supply and sanitation. He is generally seen as gruff and abrupt.

Supriya and Sadanand have mainly been involved in running schools and other educational institutions owned by the family trust since their return from the US three years ago.

Supriya is her father’s only child and has been deeply involved in backward class and tribal rights issues in the state.

A rather strong political comment she had made earlier this year had indicated that she was getting ready to take the plunge.

Supriya had then come down heavily on the state’s Congress-NCP coalition government for neglecting fund allocations to “ashramshalas” (residential schools) for the state’s nomadic tribes.

Supriya had upset the Congress by directly accus- ing chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh of ignoring the problem.

The state tribal minister, too, is a Congressman and Supriya’s comments helped the NCP score a brownie point at a time when the ruling partners were playing their usual game of one-upmanship.

Supriya was inducted into the party in her father’s presence at the NCP headquarters in Colaba.

“Today, she filled up the form as an active member of the Nationalist Congress Party,” party state unit president Arun Gujrathi said yesterday.