In a spot: How Supriya Sule was caught between Cyrus Mistry and Ratan Tata, courtesy a noble cause

An act of charity can sometimes contribute to the working of the rumour mills. Less than a month ago, Sharad Pawar sent Ratan Tata a personalized letter thanking Tata Trusts for sponsoring 10,000 bicycles to a cause. Named ‘ Two Wheels of Hope’, this was an initiative to distribute bicycles to girl children in the rural parts of Pune district. “I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to you,” the Rajya Sabha MP wrote.


On July 7, the Maratha strongman’s daughter, politician Supriya Sule, set the campaign’s wheels in motion in Pune. Also in attendance was Tata Trust’s R Venkataraman.



Rewind to October 2016, when the Tata-Mistry battle was at its fiercest. One among the early voices backing Cyrus Mistry was Sule’s.

“Cyrus was running his own family business successfully," Sule, also an MP from Maharashtra, said, adding, “He tried hard to make changes to benefit the Tatas.”

One can only guess at how Sule is balancing the two equations. In politics, knowledge of tandem-riding and back-pedaling perhaps is a help.