Baramati fight was emotionally painful; ready to debate with critics over legacy: Supriya Sule

Mumbai, Sep 25 (PTI) NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule on Wednesday called her fight with her cousin Ajit Pawar’s wife in the Baramati Lok Sabha polls emotionally painful, underscoring that she considers relationships beyond power and money.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave here, Sule rejected the speculations that the NCP split after Ajit Pawar’s rebellion because her father Sharad Pawar chose her as his successor. The MP said she was ready to debate with critics over legacy.

The family has nothing to do with politics and 98 per cent of the family members stood by her, said Sule, who has consecutively won the Baramati Lok Sabha seat three times.

“The (Baramati) elections were emotionally painful for me as relationships are beyond blood. Power and money come and go. What matters is relationship,” she said.

In the recently held Lok Sabha polls, NCP fielded Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar against Supriya Sule, who won by a margin of 1.58 lakh votes.

“I decided to stand by an 83-year-old man. The journey was important, not the outcome,” she said.

Ajit Pawar has more than once admitted that pitting his wife against Sule was a mistake.

Sule said their party has a lot of talent and her father’s legacy can go to anyone deserving. People will decide who will carry it forward, she said.

“Y B Chavan (first chief minister of Maharashtra) and Sharad Pawar are not related by blood, but Pawar’s name is taken as his prodigal son,” she said.

Sule said she would be happy to debate with critics and even with Ajit Pawar on what he was denied in politics because of her.

“He could have asked (what he wanted). But he chose to disrupt our lives and go away,” she said, adding that the split in NCP was not due to succession but because of a “shift in alliance”.

Asked if NCP (SP) would merge with the Congress, Sule said she won’t speculate on that. “We feel closer to Congress ideologically," she said. When questioned if that meant it would never happen, she didn't offer a categorical answer. PTI MR NR