Supporters of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar protest against his announcement to step down as the national president of NCP. NCP president Sharad Pawar said he has decided to step down as the party chief. However, he won't retire from active politics.
Party workers and leaders, however, demanded that Pawar withdraw his decision. They threatened not to leave the venue unless he rescind his decision. A four-time Maharashtra chief minister, who served as Union Defence and Agriculture minister, Pawar was instrumental in stitching together an unlikely coalition of the NCP, Congress and then ideologically opposite Shiv Sena to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Pawar recommended that a committee comprising senior NCP leaders be formed to decide the future course of action. The committee will include, Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, P C Chacko, Narhari Zirwal, Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil, Chhagan Bhujabl, Dilip walse-Patil, Anil Deshmukh, Rajesh Tope, Jitendra Awhad, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Jaydev Gaikwad and chiefs of party frontal cells, Pawar said.