Who is Nila Vikhe Patil? Maharashtra BJP minister’s niece elected to Sweden Parliament

Nila Vikhe Patil is the granddaughter of former Union minister Balasaheb Vikhe Patil.

Green Party leader Nila Vikhe Patil, niece of Maharashtra BJP minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, has been elected to Sweden’s Parliament from the Stockholm City constituency.

The 41-year-old Green Party politician was elected in Sweden’s national election held on September 13. She will be among the 349 members of the Riksdag, Sweden’s Parliament.

“It feels nice to be a part of the 349-member Parliament. I am looking forward to contributing to the city and the country,” Nila was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. She said she wanted to represent people who could not vote and work towards creating better opportunities for children.

“I would like to be voice for those who cannot vote. I want to contribute to a society where every child gets a chance for a good future. We need a habitable planet with clean water, living nature and as few human-caused natural disasters as possible,” she added.

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Nila Vikhe Patil was born in Sweden and spent her early years in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar. She is the daughter of educationist Ashok Vikhe Patil, chairman of the Vikhe Patil Foundation, which runs educational institutions across Maharashtra.

She is the granddaughter of former Union minister Balasaheb Vikhe Patil and the great-granddaughter of Vithalrao Vikhe Patil, who founded Asia’s first cooperative sugar factory.

Recalling her grandfather, Nila said she hoped her election would make him proud. “I hope to make my grandfather proud. He made me read the state budget when I was 15,” she said.

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Nila also spoke about her continuing connection with India. “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,” she said.

Nila holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from the Gothenburg School of Business, where she studied economics and law. She also studied at the Complutense University of Madrid in Spain.

Nila’s political career in Sweden

Nila has been active in Swedish politics for about 25 years and is associated with the Green Party. She served as a political adviser in the Swedish prime minister’s office during Stefan Lofven’s administration. She worked on finance, taxation and housing.

She later served on the Stockholm City Council and has held several positions within the Green Party and its youth organisations. She is also a member of the Stockholm Green Party’s election committee.

Nila has worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) since 2020. She became an authorised public accountant in April 2025.

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Sweden held its parliamentary election on September 13. The four opposition parties -- the Social Democrats, Left Party, Centre Party and Green Party -- won 176 seats in the 349-member Riksdag. The four parties that formed or supported the outgoing conservative-led government secured 173 seats.

The Social Democrats were the largest party with 99 seats. The election result gave the opposition bloc a narrow majority in Parliament.

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