High drama as NCP supporter tries to self-immolate amid party meet over its next chief

An unidentified NCP worker tried to self-immolate outside the party in Mumbai.

An unidentified Nationalist Congress Party worker tried to self-immolate outside the party in Mumbai on Friday even as a key meeting of top NCP leaders was going on to choose its next president.

An NCP worker is being rescued as he tried to die by suicide outside the party office in Mumbai. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT)

Meanwhile, the NCP passed a resolution rejecting Pawar's resignation as party president and has requested him to continue to lead the party that he founded, senior NCP Praful Patel said after the party's core committee.

The decision was taken days after Pawar dropped a bombshell saying he would step down from the post. Celebrations by NCP party workers erupted soon after senior NCP Praful Patel announce the committee's decision at a press conference.

Pawar on Tuesday sprang a surprise by announcing his decision to quit as president of the party he founded and headed since 1999 when he left the Congress to chart his own political course.

The announcement, made at an event, stunned leaders and workers of the 24-year-old party. Pawar, a Rajya Sabha MP and one of the stalwarts of the Opposition, had said he was stepping down as NCP chief but was not retiring from public life.