Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar Tuesday announced his decision to quit his post as the party’s president and suggested the formation of a committee to decide “future course of action” — essentially, a mechanism to select his successor.
This comes amid speculations within the NCP about his nephew and former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar exploring the option of splitting the party and going with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“I am not retiring from public life. Wherever I am, whether in Mumbai, Pune or Baramati, I will always be available for the people to meet from morning to night,” said Pawar. He was speaking at a function to release the revised version of his memoir Lok Majhe Saangaati.
Pawar’s announcement left senior leaders of the NCP such as Praful Patel, Jayant Patil, Jitendra Awhad in tears. The leaders took turns taking the microphone, requesting Pawar to take back his decision, while party karyakartas said none of them would leave the auditorium unless he decides to keep his post.
Although Pawar is not retiring from public life, his decision to step down and make way for his successor to lead the party signals his intent to gradually withdraw from active politics. Pawar first entered the political arena as a Youth Congress member in 1958, 65 years ago. After leaving the Congress to found the NCP in 1999, he remained as the party’s president until now.
Pawar has suggested that the committee to decide the NCP’s “future course of action” should comprise of senior party leaders, including Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil, Supriya Sule, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, and Rajesh Tope, among other.
A change of guard in the party is likely to have a bearing on the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of the NCP, the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiva Sena (UBT).
Instrumental in the MVA’s formation in 2019, Pawar has pretty much steered the alliance since then. His successor, though, may have a different view of the alliance, as also the NCP’s equations with the BJP.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray V)
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