Mumbai: A committee to pick the successor of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar will meet for the first time Friday morning even as senior party leaders are trying to convince him to rethink his decision.
NCP Maharashtra president Jayant Patil told the media Thursday that the panel, as suggested by Sharad Pawar, will meet at 11 am Friday at the party office in Mumbai.
“Many party leaders are insisting Pawar to remain the party president till the upcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. But (it) looks like he is not likely to change his decision,” Patil said.
Amid speculation on Sharad Pawar’s successor, some senior leaders being seen as aspirants have taken themselves out of the race. On Wednesday, senior leader and former Union minister Praful Patel said that he has no desire to become the party chief.
The same line was repeated on Thursday by Jayant Patil. “I work in Maharashtra. I have no contacts in other states or in Delhi, I am of the opinion that a leader who is a Member of Parliament and has experience of national politics should take this responsibility,” he said.
A section of senior NCP leaders is of the opinion that if Pawar doesn’t reconsider his decision, one alternative could be to give the party’s national responsibility to his daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, and the state’s reins to nephew Ajit Pawar.
Senior leader Chhagan Bhujbal told ThePrint that his recommendation at the committee meeting will be to appoint Sule as the next party president.
“The division is clear. Supriya Sule who is the national face can head the party and look after the national affairs of the party while Ajit Pawar can take care of the state level affairs,” Bhujbal told ThePrint.
As Sule is an MP, he suggested, she knows everyone in the national capital and has also been awarded as Sansad Ratna. Ajit Pawar has always been in Maharashtra and he should look after the state affairs, he added.
Bhujbal asserted that the final decision would be made by the committee. All the leaders will make their own recommendation as well after which the committee will take the final decision, he added.
On Tuesday, the NCP patriarch had shocked the rank and file of his party by announcing that he was stepping down as the party president at the release of his updated autobiography, ‘Lok Maze Sangati’ (People, My Companion), in Mumbai.
The panel to chart out a succession plan comprises senior leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, K.K. Sharma, P.C. Chacko, Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil, Supriya Sule, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Anil Deshmukh, Rajesh Tope, Jitendra Awhad, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, and Jaydev Gaikwad.
Fauzia Khan, president, NCP Mahila Congress; Dheeraj Sharma, president, NCP Youth Congress; and Sonia Duhan, president, NCP Student Congress, are ex-officio members.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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