Supriya Sadanand Sule (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Pawar; born 30 June 1969) is an Indian politician from the

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra with a recognised state party status in Nagaland and Kerala. The party has its presence in legislative assemblies of M ...

and currently a

Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha ( abbreviated: MP) is the representative of a legislative constituency in the Lok Sabha; the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of parliament of Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections ...

representing

Baramati Baramati (Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɾamət̪iː is a city, a tehsil and a municipal council in Pune district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The city is about 100 km (62 miles) southeast of the city of Pune and about 250 km from M ...

since 2009, leader of Nationalist Congress Party (SP) in

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

since 2014 and the Working National President of

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the List of political parties in India#State parties, state parties in India and is one of the major political parties in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Maharashtra with a recognised state party statu ...

since 2023. She is awarded with ''Sansad Ratna'' awards in 2025 for her excellence performance in parliamentary duties. Previously, she served as the

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the States and union territories of India, Indian states to the upper house of the Parliament of India which is known as "Rajya Sabha" (constitutionally "Cou ...

from

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

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.

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 Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. She passed her SSC from St.Columba School, Gamdevi. She was educated at

Jai Hind College Jai Hind College (Autonomous) (Marathi: जय हिंद कॉलेज) is an autonomous college in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, affiliated to the University of Mumbai. It was established in 1948. In 2000, ''India Today'' named Jai Hind C ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, achieving a

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

Political career

Sule was elected to the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

in the September 2006 intake from Maharashtra and is a trustee of the

Nehru Centre Nehru Centre is a centre to promote the teachings and ideals of the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, through educational and cultural programmes in the city of Mumbai, India. The Centre organises scientific, cultural and educat ...

in Mumbai. 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 parliamentary engagement as a member of the Lok Sabha, with her emerging as one of the Best Performers In Lok Sabha on multiple occasions.

Criminal Charges

In November 2024, Supriya Sule, NCP(SP) leader, and Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole were accused of misappropriating bitcoins from a 2018 cryptocurrency fraud case to fund election campaigns for the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections. The allegations, made by IPS officer Ravindranath Patil, claimed that bitcoins seized during a Pune Police investigation into a multi-crore cryptocurrency ponzi scheme were illegally sold, with proceeds funneled into the elections via hawala channels. Patil, who had been involved as a forensic auditor in the original 2018 investigation, alleged that a seized cryptocurrency hardware wallet had been swapped, and funds were misappropriated under the instructions of senior officials, including former Pune Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta. Audio clips, documents and evidence of fraudulent bitcoin transactions were circulated by the Enforcement Directorate. The Enforcement Directorate also conducted searches related to the case, and the Central Bureau of Investigation summoned individuals allegedly involved. Sule and Pawar also face a CBI probe over obtaining illegal permissions for the construction of a private hill station at Lavasa in Pune.

Involvement with IPL Irregularities

In June 2010, Sule denied allegations of involvement in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

(IPL), when reports on IPL irregularities in its ownership and functioning surfaced and led to

Shashi Tharoor Shashi Tharoor (; born 9 March 1956) is an Indian politician, author, and former diplomat, who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. He is currently the Chairman of Committee on External Affairs. ...

, 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 ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. Owned by The Times Group, ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961 and it is sold in all major cities in India. As of 2012, it is the world's secon ...

'', India's largest business newspaper, reported that

Sharad Pawar Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar (, pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �əɾəd̪ pəʋaːɾ born 12 December 1940) is an Indian politician. Pawar served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for four terms and in the Union Council of Ministers ...

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 California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where she studied water pollution at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

. Subsequently, she moved to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and then returned to Mumbai.

Electoral performance

References

External links

*
Profile on Lok Sabha website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sule, Supriya 1969 births Living people People from Baramati Politicians from Pune Nationalist Congress Party politicians from Maharashtra Women in Maharashtra politics Marathi politicians Jai Hind College alumni Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra India MPs 2009–2014 India MPs 2014–2019 India MPs 2019–2024 Women members of the Rajya Sabha Women members of the Lok Sabha 21st-century Indian women politicians Nationalist Congress Party (SP) politicians India MPs 2024–2029 Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance candidates in 2024 Indian general election