Nila Vikhe Patil, member of Maharashtra’s political heavyweight family, elected to Sweden Parliament

PUNE: Nila Vikhe Patil, daughter of Maharashtra educationist Ashok Vikhe Patil, made it to the Swedish Parliament after being elected from the Stockholm City constituency.Nila, a 41-year-old Swedish Member of Parliament, comes from the Vikhe Patil family, political heavyweights from Maharashtra.Her great-grandfather, Vithalrao Vikhe Patil, was instrumental in starting Asia’s first cooperative sugar factory in Ahilyanagar, erstwhile Ahmednagar.Her grandfather, late Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, was a Union minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, while her uncle and BJP senior Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil is currently serving as a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government.“I want to work towards securing every child’s future. We need to work on making our earth as habitable planet with clean water and living nature,” Nila said while speaking to agencies.Born in Sweden, Nila got associated with the Youth Green Party when she was 15. Speaking to TOI, her father Ashok Vikhe Patil said she visits India at least once a year.“I feel proud that she is taking forward the legacy of my grandfather and father. She does not like injustice. She is determined to work for the environment and the rights of poor and children,” he said.Nila completed her MBA in Economics and Law from Gothenburg School of Business and also at the University De Complutense in Madrid before serving as a political adviser in the Swedish Prime Minister’s Office.During her tenure at the PMO, she focused on housing and finance.Nila has been associated with the left-leaning Green Party in Sweden, which is part of the left-leaning bloc that recently secured a slim majority in Sweden’s general election. Before winning the Parliament seat, Nila also represented the City Council of Stockholm Municipal Corporation.