The chief’s chair will remain his

In a span of four days since he announced his decision to step down, Sharad Pawar, 82, displayed why he remains one of India’s most consummate politicians. Senior NCP leaders to certain MLAs who had been reportedly chafing at the bit to align with the BJP, were all left pleading with him to continue as their leader and mentor and he finally withdrew his resignation.

Mumbai Sharad Pawar, founder-president of the Nationalist Congress Party, withdrew his resignation on Friday after immense pressure from his party, and brought to a close, at least for some time, the churn that has engulfed the NCP in recent weeks.

Mumbai, India - May 05, 2023: NCP Chief Sharad Pawar addresses the media during a press conference after withdrawing his resignation and announcing that he will continue as the president of the party, at Y.B. Chavan Centre, Nariman Point, in Mumbai, India, on Friday, May 05, 2023. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

Pawar also announced that he would be working on a succession plan and said, without naming anyone, that those in his party who wished to leave and join hands with the BJP government in the state, could “not be stopped.”

“I cannot disrespect the feelings of party workers. I am overwhelmed with the love, trust and faith showered on me. Considering the appeals made by all of you and honouring the decision of the committee constituted by the party, I am withdrawing my decision to retire,” said Pawar reading out from a prepared statement at YB Chavan Centre on Friday evening.

In a span of four days since he announced his decision to step down, Sharad Pawar, 82, displayed why he remains one of India’s most consummate politicians. Senior NCP leaders to certain MLAs who had been reportedly chafing at the bit to align with the BJP, were all left pleading with him to continue as their leader and mentor. Grown men wept, others surged around him begging him to reverse his decision, one of them wrote a letter in his blood, while another doused himself in kerosene, threatening self-harm if Sharad Pawar did not take back his resignation. As a show of strength, it was immaculate.

His daughter and putative heir, Baramati MP, Supriya Sule, kept her counsel and opposed the idea that she be appointed as a working president while his nephew, and the NCP’s second-most consequential leader, Ajit Pawar, was once again left cornered.

In his statement on Friday, when Sharad Pawar brought up the issue of succession and organisational changes to give greater responsibility to the next generation, it escaped no one that Ajit Pawar was missing from venue. Earlier in the day, he and a few other NCP leaders close to him met at the house of Eknath Khadse to discuss the recent events in the party.

Rumours around Ajit Pawar gained ground when the senior Pawar said that although, “no leader in NCP was interested in joining hands with the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party, but those who want to go, cannot be stopped.”

Insiders said that by announcing his resignation, Pawar wanted to demonstrate once and for all who the real boss was, and that he would not be cornered into making a decision against his will. “The resignation and the subsequent outpouring of support exposed Ajit and his loyalists who were putting pressure on him to forge an alliance with the BJP. The message that went out was that Pawar saheb was so frustrated by these manoeuvres that he chose to step down from his position. It has damaged these leaders’ image, especially in western Maharashtra,” said an NCP leader who did not want to be quoted.

Ajit Pawar who, in 2019, was brought back onto the party and family fold after an ill-conceived attempt to form a government with the BJP, was the only prominent leader who did not oppose Pawar’s decision to step down four days ago. For the rest of the committee, set up by Pawar himself to find his successor, there was a single-point agenda: to get him to reconsider. “Respected Pawar saheb’s resignation is being unanimously rejected, with the consensus being that he should continue as party president,” said party vice-president Praful Patel, reading out the resolution moved by the committee.

All 19 members of the committee then met Pawar at his residence and handed over the resolution. “Even though I am continuing in the post of president, I am of the clear opinion that there has to be a succession plan. In future, I will focus on making organisational changes in the party, assigning new responsibilities, and creating new leadership,” said Pawar.

He also clarified that his successor will not be decided by him alone. “It cannot be an individual decision.” New faces, he said, should be given bigger opportunities. “Those working for 10-15 years at the district level will be given state level responsibilities while those working at state level will get responsibilities at the national level,” he announced.

While withdrawing his resignation, Pawar also mentioned that several senior leaders from other political parties had also requested him to rethink his decision telling him that he was required to bring all like-minded opposition parties together.

He clarified that he had not called Uddhav Thackeray a “failed chief minister” in his autobiography, Lok Mazhe Sangati. “I only said in the context of his decision to resign that we did not like it because it was a coalition government and any extreme step taken by one of the allies unilaterally affects other allies as well,” he pointed out.

The MVA, he added would not be affected by the recent events in the NCP. “We are working together, and will work harder to provide an alternative to the people.”