Vikhe Patil family's Nila elected to Sweden's parliament

Nila Vikhe Patil, niece of Maharashtra water resources minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, has been elected as a member of Sweden's parliament. Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil congratulated his niece on his Twitter account. "My niece Nila Vikhe Patil's election as a member of Sweden's parliament is a matter of pride and joy for our entire family. This success she has achieved in the recent election is an acknowledgment of her consistent work and her contribution to public life in Sweden," Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil tweeted on September 20, 2026.

Nila Vikhe Patil has been active in social and public work from the start. She had also served as an adviser to the prime minister of Sweden. "The hard work my brother Ashok Patil put into his children's education is an important reason behind Nila Vikhe Patil's success today. I am truly happy that Nila will now work as a member of Sweden's parliament to fulfil the expectations of citizens there," said minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil.

The 41 year old Nila Vikhe Patil has been elected from the Stockholm city constituency to Sweden's 349 member parliament, the Riksdag. She belongs to the fourth generation of the Vikhe Patil family and was born in Sweden, but spent her childhood in Ahilyanagar. She is the great granddaughter of Sahakarmaharshi Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil, who set up Asia's first cooperative sugar factory. She is the granddaughter of former union minister the late Balasaheb Vikhe Patil. She is the daughter of educationist Dr Ashok Vikhe Patil, and the niece of water resources minister and chairman of the cabinet's Maratha sub committee, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil.

In Sweden's recent national election, left leaning opposition parties came together to win 176 of the 349 seats, while the outgoing conservative government had to settle for 173 seats. Against this political backdrop, Nila Vikhe Patil's election to Sweden's parliament is being seen as particularly significant.

Nila Vikhe Patil was educated at the Gothenburg School of Business in Sweden. She studied economics and law, and later earned an MBA. She won election to parliament from the Stockholm city constituency on a Green Party ticket. She had earlier served as a political adviser during the tenure of Sweden's former prime minister Stefan Lofven.