Supriya Sule is Sharad Pawar's daughter and his heir apparent.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule, who made a veiled attack on cousin Ajit Pawar on Saturday after he took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister in the Devendra Fadnavis government, today said "only relationships matter" while "power comes and goes".
"I believe... power comes and goes... only relationships matter..." read Supriya Sule's status on WhatsApp this morning.
In another status, the 50-year-old leader wrote: "Good morning... values will eventually win.... honesty and hard work never goes waste... that path is harder but sustains long term."
Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister on Saturday in an early morning, quiet oath ceremony as the BJP retained power in the state and Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister for a second consecutive term.
The BJP's overnight stunner came hours after Sharad Pawar's NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress had announced an alliance on Friday and said that Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be the Chief Minister. The deliberation between for government formation in the state had been going on between the three parties ever since the Sena parted ways with its three-decade old ally BJP over the demand of "50:50 power sharing" in the state.
Ajit Pawar had been part of all meetings to discuss the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance, along with his uncle Sharad Pawar.
Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar's daughter and his heir apparent, expressed disappointment over her cousin's decision to support the BJP in a WhatsApp status on Saturday. "Party and family split," her status on the messaging app read.
Another message read: "Who do (you) trust in life never felt so cheated in my life defended him loved him, look what I get in return."
Today, NCP leader Jayant Patil met the Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at the Raj Bhawan with a letter to inform him about replacement of Ajit Pawar as the legislature party leader. Mr Patil replaced Ajit Pawar as the NCP's legislature unit leader on Saturday, hours after he joined hands with the BJP.