Pawar clears air, won’t contest Lok Sabha elections

The meeting on Thursday was the second day when Pawar was holding deliberations with the party leaders and office bearers to review preparations for Lok Sabha seats at party headquarters

Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday announced that he will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The announcement came in a meeting called to review eight Lok Sabha constituencies and was a response to the demand made by the leaders and office bearers for the second consecutive day that Pawar should contest the general elections.

Aurangabad: NCP President Sharad Pawar during a press conference in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. (PTI Photo) (PTI08_16_2023_000171B) (PTI)

The meeting on Thursday was the second day when Pawar was holding deliberations with the party leaders and office bearers to review preparations for Lok Sabha seats at party headquarters. During the meeting, when deliberations were on for the Dindori seat, some leaders again raised the demand that Pawar must contest the Lok Sabha elections this time.

After this, Pawar clarified that he won’t be contesting any polls. “Instead I would prefer touring Maharashtra and the country to strengthen the opposition alliance,” the 82-year-old leader said.

On Wednesday, leaders and office bearers from the Madha constituency demanded that Pawar should contest the elections from the seat. The NCP chief chose to remain silent that day.

Madha constituency falls in Solapur district of western Maharashtra. Pawar was a Member of Parliament (MP) from this seat from 2009 to 2014. The seat came into existence following the delimitation of constituencies by the election commission in 2008. Currently, it is with BJP’s Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar.

The 15 seats which were reviewed by Pawar in the last two days are Dindori, Ahmednagar, Hingoli, Wardha, Amravati, Beed, Bhiwandi, Jalna, Baramati, Madha, Kolhapur, Shirur, Satara, Hathkanangale and Raver.