A day after Sharad Pawar announced his decision to step down as the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president, senior party leaders held a discussion here on the road ahead, even as Chhagan Bhujbal said Pawar's daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule was ideal for a national role.
An NCP worker from Pune wrote a letter in blood, appealing to Pawar to withdraw his decision and not make him and several other party workers orphan. Pawar was present at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in Mumbai where the NCP leaders held the discussion informally, but he did not attend the meet.
Chhagan Bhujbal said Supriya Sule was ideal for a national role as she has a good grasp of issues. She has been doing well as a parliamentarian. So there will be no problem on deciding the new NCP president. Ajit Pawar should handle the responsibility of the state (Maharashtra). The division of work is already there, he said.
Bhujbal on Wednesday said Pawar's announcement to step down as the NCP chief came as a shock to everyone. We will persuade him to withdraw his decision, he said. After the meeting of NCP leaders, Bhujbal said there was no meeting as such of a committee, formed by Sharad Pawar to decide on his successor. Since we were in Mumbai, we met informally to discuss how to persuade Pawar saheb to withdraw his resignation, he said. What I spoke in the morning (with reference to Supriya Sule) is my personal view, Bhujbal said.