The Nationalist Congress Party has reported Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Abdul Sattar to the police for allegedly abusing Supriya Sule, a party member and Sharad Pawar’s daughter, in a television interview. When Sattar was questioned about the alleged offers of bribery, he lost his composure and yelled at the MP.

Through attorney Inderpal Singh, the NCP employees complained to the police station in Borivali, a suburb of Mumbai, accusing Sattar of “insulting the whole women community of the country.”

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Who is Supriya Sule?

Supriya Sule is an Indian politician who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party. She is presently the MP for Baramati in the 17th Lok Sabha. She was born on June 30, 1969. She is 53 years old. 

Sule was born in Pune to Indian politician and Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar and his wife Pratibha Pawar. She received a B.Sc. in microbiology from Jai Hind College in Mumbai. She married Sadanand Bhalchandra Sule on March 4, 1991, and is the mother of Vijay (son) and Revati (daughter).

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The parents of Sadanand Sule are Shashi Bhatt and Bhalchandra Sule, a former managing director of Mahindra and Mahindra (badminton player). M. D. Bhatt, an Indian Civil Service officer who served as the Chief Secretary of Bombay State, was the father of Shashi. Sadanand was only two years old when Shashi passed away from cancer in 1964. Later, Anne was married to Bhalchandra Sule. 2003 saw Bhalchandra’s passing. When the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government was established in Maharashtra following the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election, there were internet rumours circulating that Sadanand’s mother was “Sudha Sule,” who was alleged to be the sister of Bal Thackeray.

She spent some time in California after getting married, where she attended UC Berkeley to study water contamination. She later relocated to Singapore and Indonesia before coming back to Mumbai.

Sule was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra in the September 2006 intake and is a trustee of the Nehru Centre in Mumbai.

She spearheaded the state-wide anti-female foeticide campaign. The campaign included padayatras, college events, and competitions, among other things.

Under Sule’s leadership, the Rashtravadi Yuvati Congress was formed in 2012 to provide a platform for young girls in politics. Several rallies have been held across Maharashtra in recent months, focusing on female foetus abortion, the dowry system, and women’s empowerment in general.

Sule is well-known for her outstanding parliamentary performance as a member of the Lok Sabha, having been named one of the Best Performers in Lok Sabha on multiple occasions.

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Sule refuted claims that her family had financial ties to the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April 2010, when information about IPL irregularities in its ownership and operation appeared and forced India’s Minister of State for External Affairs to resign. But there were rumours that her husband had a 10% stake in a company that had the exclusive multi-year broadcasting rights for IPL games (through a power of attorney from his father).

The Economic Times,  stated in June 2010 that Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule controlled 16.22% of a company that had submitted a proposal for the IPL franchise in Pune.