Maharashtra educationist's daughter Nila Vikhe Patil elected to Swedish Parliament

Mumbai: Maharashtra educationist Ashok Vikhe Patil's daughter Nila Vikhe Patil has been elected to the Swedish Parliament, it was announced on Saturday.

Nila, 41, was elected a Member of Parliament from Stockholm City constituency. Polling was held on September 13.

"It feels nice to be a part of the 349-member Parliament. I am looking forward to contributing to the city and the country," she told.


"I would like to be a voice for those who cannot vote. My areas of interest will be children's welfare and environment," she said.

Great-granddaughter of the founder of Asia's first co-operative sugar factory, Vithalrao, and granddaughter of late Union minister Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, Nila said, "I hope to make my grandfather proud. He made me read the state budget when I was 15." She has served as a Political Adviser in the Swedish Prime Minister's Office, focusing on finance, taxes, and housing during the Stefan Lofven administration.

She had also been elected to the City Council of the Stockholm Municipal Corporation.

Nila has been an active member of the Green Party and is a member of the Election Committee of the Stockholm Green Party.

Born in Sweden, Nila spent early years in Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. She is niece of Maharashtra minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil.

She holds a Bachelor's degree and MBA from Gothenburg School of Business, with Economics and Law and also studied MBA in University de Complutense in Madrid.

She has been a member of the Board of the Green Party, Swedish Young Greens, Green Party Gothenburg, Green students of Sweden, and also a member of the executive committee of the Green Party Stockholm, her father told.

Ashok Vikhe Patil, chairman of the Vikhe Patil Foundation, which runs a chain of educational institutes across Maharashtra, said he felt proud of his daughter's achivement.

Nila said, "I love India dearly and I feel very connected. I have lots of close Indian friends. I miss my grandfather a lot. He used to call me almost weekly during his last years." Sweden's left-leaning opposition won a narrow majority in the country's national election, a complete vote count showed.

The Swedish Election Authority said the four opposition parties won 176 seats in the 349-seat Riksdag, Sweden's parliament, in the election. The four parties that make up or support the outgoing conservative-led government took 173 seats.

The Green Party, a key opposition party, is focused on environmentalism, renewable energy, and green politics.