My family has nothing to do with IPL: Supriya Sule

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule sprang to her family's defence, saying none of her relatives has anything to do with any of the Indian Premier League franchises.

Reacting to reports claiming that a powerful union cabinet minister's son-in-law's name figured in the papers of an industrial group that unsuccessfully bid for a new IPL team, Sule said her family had nothing to do with it.

"I say with full conviction that my husband (Sadanand Sule) or family has nothing to do with any of these issues. We always stay miles away from it. Yes, we are avid cricket watchers, my husband, my kids, my family all and that's where the buck stops," Sule, a Member of Parliament, told reporters.

"We are all clear. It doesn't matter what people say and spread. I think at the end of the day your conviction matters," said the NCP MP.

She also threw her weight behind her father and said Pawar, a former BCCI President, played a neutral role in the Lalit Modi-Shashi Tharoor spat and it would be wrong to say he backed the IPL Commissioner.

"If you talk about Pawar, in the first interview he gave on this issue he spoke well about (Shahshi) Tharoor also. It is unfair to say that he only defended Modi. He even said good things like Tharoor was really keen on Kerala cricket."

Supriya also came behind senior NCP leader and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who allegedly lobbied for the Videocon group in the IPL bidding.

"Everybody knows Praful bhai. He is one of the most popular and positive MPs and ministers in the country. He is loved by the entire country and I see no reason for him to do this," she said.