Four-time Maharashtra Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar decided to step down from the post of party President on May 2, 22023, after 24 years of holding the post, since the formation of the party on June 10, 1999. The sudden decision has raised many eyebrows in political circles.
THE RESGIGNATION
Pawar announced his decision during the launch of his revised version of the autobiography ‘On My Terms.’ However, the leader affirmed that he would continue to work in political life, but would not contest elections.
Pawar said that a new committee comprising senior NCP leaders will be formed to select a new party president. He pointed out that his political journey began on May 1, 1960, and continued unabated for the past 63 years. He said he served Maharashtra and India in various capacities during this period.
Stating that he had three more years of Rajya Sabha membership, the leader said that he would focus on issues related to Maharashtra and India during this period. “After a long period of public life from May 1, 1960, to May 1, 2023, it is necessary to take a step back. Hence, I have decided to step down as the president of the Nationalist Congress Party,” Pawar said.
REACTIONS
Ajit Pawar, nephew of Sharad Pawar said that Pawar himself had said about the necessity of change in the guard a few days ago. He said that Pawar had taken a decision and he won’t take it back. NCP’s MP Praful Patel requested to withdraw the decision.
In Twitter, Uddhav Thackeray (UBT) Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that Pawar is the breath of India’s politics and social causes. “There was a time when Shiv Sena Chief Balasaheb Thackeray also resigned from the post of Shiv Sena Chief due to dirty allegations. Balasaheb had to withdraw his resignation due to public outrage. Sharad Pawar is the breath of the country’s politics and social causes,” Raut wrote on Twitter.
“Fed up by dirty Politics and allegations , Shivsena Supremo Balasaheb Thackeray too had resigned as the Shivsena Pramukh. History seems to have repeated itself… But owing to the love of Shivsainiks he had to withdraw his decision… Like Balasaheb , Pawar Saheb too is the soul of the State’s politics,” he said.
PAWAR, THE MAN
In Maharashtra, it was Pawar’s proactive role that brought the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena (undivided) together to form the MahaVikasAghadi (MVA) government. A native of Baramati, Pawarstarted his political carrier after doing his graduation in Commerce from Pune. At the young age of 27, he contested his first MLA election on a Congress ticket from Baramati in 1968, and won. He retained the seat in successive elections till 1990.
In 1978, he became the youngest chief minister of Maharashtra at the age of 38. While he would become CM three more times – a record for the state — none of his tenures lasted a full five years.
After Sonia Gandhi joined politics in 1999 and rose to the top, Pawar objected to this on the grounds of her “foreign origins”. The Congress expelled him from the Congress, and he took along P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar to form the NCP.Within a year, in 2000, the NCP had earned national party recognition, after registering its presence in Maharashtra, Goa, Meghalaya and Manipur.
And when the UPA 1 and UPA 2 came to power at the Centre under PM Manmohan Singh in 2004 and 2009, Pawar was the AgricultureMinister.
