Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar has sought more time to reconsider his decision to step down as party chief, even as the panel constituted by him to choose a new leader unanimously rejected his position. Resignation rejected. Sharing more details, NCP leader Praful Patel on Friday said senior party leaders met Sharad Pawar at his Silver Oak residence in south Mumbai after a committee set up to pick his successor as NCP chief. rejected his decision to step down.
“We requested (Sharad) Pawar saheb to consider the proposal of the NCP committee (which rejected his decision to step down as party chief). He (Pawar) has sought more time and he will convey his decision.
NCP panel rejects Pawar’s resignation
Earlier, a committee was constituted to select the new Nationalist Congress Party chief rejects Pawar’s decision to step down. “The committee has unanimously passed a resolution. It unanimously rejects his decision to step down and urges him to continue as party president,” Patel said after the committee meeting.
The committee, comprising Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Patel and Chhagan Bhujbal, was formed by Pawar himself after announcing his resignation as NCP chief on May 2.
“We will meet Pawar Sahab with this proposal and request him to reconsider his decision,” Patel, the committee’s vice-chairman and convenor, told the media after the meeting. Patel said that the party and the country need a leader like Pawar.
The committee formed after Sharad Pawar’s resignation has unanimously decided that Sharad Pawar will continue to be the President of NCP. We have requested him (Sharad Pawar) to take this decision positively. NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal pic.twitter.com/H4fcFxYTMU– ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023
“Pawar saheb is a respected leader of the country. There was a strong reaction against Pawar’s decision. Feelings cannot be ignored. As the meeting was underway, several NCP workers wore caps bearing the message – “I am with Saheb” and demanded that Pawar reconsider his decision.
Pawar spring surprise, announces resignation
Pawar on Tuesday surprised everyone by announcing his resignation as the president of the party he founded in 1999, when he quit the Congress to chart his own political path.
The announcement, made at an event, stunned leaders and workers of the 24-year-old party. Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP and one of the stalwarts of the opposition, had said he was stepping down as NCP chief, but not retiring from public life.
The announcement came amid speculation that Ajit Pawar and some MLAs may join hands with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, though the former deputy chief minister refuted such talk, claiming that he would stay with the NCP till he was alive.
According to party sources, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and DMK’s Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin spoke to Sule over phone to inquire about the developments in the NCP after Tuesday’s announcement.
While Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and the Congress have maintained the NCP’s developments will not affect the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the three parties, political observers said much will depend on whether the Supreme Court’s decision What does Ajit Pawar do after the verdict, possibly in a few days on the petitions that brought down the Thackeray government in June last year.