Next president of NCP will work under Sharad Pawar's guidance, says Ajit Pawar

Ajit Pawar, senior NCP leader and Sharad Pawar’s nephew, on Tuesday said that the veteran leader was supposed to announce his resignation on May 1 but had put it off due to the MVA rally. He added that the senior leader resigned due to his falling health and age issues.

“Pawar Saheb himself had said about the necessity of change in guard a few days back. We should see his decision in the light of his age and health also. Everyone has to take a decision according to time, Pawar saheb has taken a decision and he won't take it back,” Ajit Pawar said on Tuesday.  

He added that the next president of NCP will work under Sharad Pawar's guidance.

"He is thinking about giving leadership of the party to new person. Ultimately, the party will work under Sharad Pawar. Whoever be the new leader, he will always work under Pawar saheb. Let's not be emotional about all this. I just spoke to Kaki (wife of Sharad Pawar). She told me that he will not change his decision," Ajit Pawar said.

Recently, Ajit Pawar declared that his party is ready to stake a claim for the chief minister's post at any point in time instead of waiting for the 2024 Maharashtra poll. In fact, flex banners projecting him as the future CM had also appeared in Dharashiv recently.

There were strong rumours in the political arena about Ajit Pawar’s next moves after he suddenly cancelled his scheduled meetings and made comments seen as being soft on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and pro CM Eknath Shinde.

A stalwart of Maharashtra politics, 82-year-old Pawar on Tuesday declared that he would no longer contest elections. Pawar floated the NCP in 1999 after being expelled from the Congress for objecting to Sonia Gandhi staking her claim to the post of PM.

"I have decided to step down as the president of the NCP," Pawar said at the launch of the second edition of his autobiography Lok Maze Sangati. His announcement was greeted by loud exclamations from the gathering.

"I have three years' tenure remaining in Rajya Sabha. I will not contest elections henceforth. In these three years, I will concentrate more on issues concerning the state and the country. I will not take any additional responsibilities. One must not be greedy," he said.

After declaring his resignation, Pawar announced a panel of senior party leaders would draw a future course of action. The committee will include Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, P C Chacko, Narhari Zirwal, Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse-Patil, Anil Deshmukh, Rajesh Tope, Jitendra Awhad, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Jaydev Gaikwad and chiefs of party frontal cells.

In his resignation speech, Pawar said: “Since the formation of the Nationalist Congress Party in 1999, I have had the privilege of being elected as its President, which today is in its 24th year. This entire journey of being in public life, which began on May 1, 1960, has continued unabated for the past 63 years, having served Maharashtra and India in various capacities during this period. I have three years left of Rajya Sabha membership in Parliament, during which I will focus on issues related to Maharashtra and India, with the caveat of not taking any responsibility. After a long period of public life from May 1, 1960, to May 1, 2023, it is necessary to take a step back.”

In 2019, Ajit Pawar staged a midnight coup after he took oath as the deputy chief minister in former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis' coalition government. Sharad Pawar had then took control of the situation prompting the return of MLAs who had joined Ajit Pawar back to the party fold. Even Ajit Pawar had resigned from the deputy CM post after his coup failed.

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