Two days after resigning as the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) national president, Sharad Pawar on Thursday met party workers protesting against his decision, explaining that he decided to step down for the “future of the party.”
With NCP cadre from all over Maharashtra and even parts of the country milling outside Mumbai’s Y.B. Chavan Centre, Mr. Pawar assuaged his party cadre by stating that the final decision by the committee of NCP leaders to decide on the issue of the national president would be taken within the next two days.
The NCP committee formed to decide on the course of electing the new national president would meet on May 5. The committee includes Mr. Pawar’s daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule; his nephew, Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar; NCP State chief Jayant Patil, former Union Minister Praful Patel, senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal, among others.
“I believe that there should be a new face for the NCP. A committee has been formed and they will take a final decision soon,” Mr. Pawar told party workers who have been urging him to take back his decision to step down.
Mr. Pawar said: “I respect your sentiments. I should have discussed my plans with all of you and taken you into confidence. But I was sure you would not have allowed me to step down as the party’s national president.”
He added that party colleagues from outside Maharashtra would meet him on Friday to discuss the issue and that the feelings of the cadre would be considered before the committee’s final decision.
Earlier, speaking to reporters, the NCP’s Maharashtra unit chief Patil said that Mr. Pawar remained firm on his decision to step down as national president. He dismissed speculation that Mr. Pawar had taken this sudden decision because a section of NCP leaders was about to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Mr. Patil further said there was no reason for Mr. Pawar’s decision to impact the future of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition or affect relationships between the three MVA allies – the NCP, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress.
He informed that the NCP committee formed to decide on the course of electing the new national president would meet on May 5. The committee includes Mr. Pawar’s daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule; his nephew, Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar; former Union Minister Praful Patel, senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal among others.
“I tried my best to make him [Mr. Pawar] change his decision when I met him yesterday evening… I conveyed to him the fervent desire of thousands of NCP party workers that he remain as NCP national president till the 2024 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections. But he is unwilling to change his decision,” Mr. Patil said, speaking to reporters in Mumbai.
Mr. Patil, who had been visibly shaken when Mr. Pawar announced his startling decision to step down on Tuesday, said that though the NCP patriarch remained steadfast on his decision, Mr. Pawar would have to agree if the committee so wished he should continue as party national president.
A number of leaders, including Mr. Bhujbal, have suggested Ms. Sule as the future NCP national president. Leaders in the Sena (UBT) and the Congress – the NCP’s allies – too have expressed a preference for Ms. Sule over her blunt-speaking cousin Ajit Pawar.
Mr. Patil’s name, too, has cropped up as a contender for the post with none other than Saroj Patil (Sharad Pawar’s sister) endorsing it.
However, the NCP State president said that he would prefer working in Maharashtra as he had no connect in Delhi and elsewhere in the country.
“I have heard and read that my name too is in contention for NCP national president. But I have been working primarily in Maharashtra. I like touring every constituency and meeting people and working among the cadre gives me great happiness. I don’t have much contact outside Maharashtra nor know people in Delhi or other states. So, only someone like Pawar saaheb who has been working in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha should be taking over this responsibility,” said Mr. Patil, who is known as a rival to Ajit Pawar within the NCP.
Congress leaders like Balasaheb Thorat and Yashomati Thakur, while lauding Ms. Sule’s work as MP in the Lok Sabha, have openly said they would like to see her as NCP national president.
NCP Sources also said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin spoke to Sule over phone to enquire about developments in the NCP after Sharad Pawar’s announcement to quit as its chief, according to party sources.
Terming rumours that the motive behind Mr. Pawar’s decision was to avoid seeing a split within his party as “baseless”, Mr. Patil stressed that the joint MVA rallies were being postponed owing to predictions of “uncertain weather” in May by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Congressman Prithviraj Chavan as well as the Shiv Sena (UBT) have expressed the view that Mr. Pawar may have resigned rather than see a section of senior NCP leaders (alluding to Ajit Pawar) join the BJP in his lifetime.
In response, Mr. Patil said: “Mr. Chavan’s remarks, made during a campaign in Karnataka where the NCP’s candidate is standing against the Congress’ nominee, have led to some misunderstanding. Barely one and a half years remain for the 2024 Lok Sabha election and MVA parties have begun preparations… Such speculation is an effort to defame the NCP,” Mr. Patil said, adding that the MVA would continue to work under Mr. Pawar’s guidance regardless of whether he remained the party national president or not.
“The remaining MVA rallies in Nashik, Pune and Kolhapur have been postponed because on uncertain weather as predicted by the India MD. We can complete these rallies anytime…we had taken this decision of postponing the rallies at the Mumbai event itself as the weather was causing inconvenience to a lot of people,” said Mr. Patil, observing that the postponement had nothing to do with Mr. Pawar’s decision.
