Sharad Pawar hints he may not seek another term as MP

Mumbai: NCP founder Sharad Pawar on Tuesday indicated that he will retire from politics after his current term as the Rajya Sabha gets over. Addressing a meeting in Baramati, the former Union minister said his term as Rajya Sabha will get over after 18 months and he will not contest any election after that. He also urged voters of the Baramati Assembly constituency to elect a new leader after 30 years of Ajit Pawar’s service as MLA.

“I will not contest Lok Sabha elections. I will not contest any election now. I have contested 14 elections so far. You never let me go home in any of these elections, you made me win in all of the elections. You made me win every election but I have to stop somewhere,” the 84-year-old politician said.

Sharad Pawar-led NCP(SP) has fielded Yugendra Pawar, son of Ajit Pawar’s younger brother, from the Baramati Assembly seat. The seat is considered a fortress of the Pawar family. Sharad Pawar was elected as the Baramati MLA for six times from 1967 to 1990. Ajit has won the seat for the seven consecutive times from 1991 to 2019.

In the 2019 election, even BJP’s Gopichand Padalkar, who was the runner-up, lost his deposit from the Baramati seat as Ajit polled more than 83 per cent votes.

Campaigning for Yugendra, the NCP founder said that the people of Baramati should now look ahead at the future. He also acknowledged deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's contribution to Baramati but asserted that the region needs a new leader for its development over the next three decades.

“Now it is time for me to prepare a young (and) dynamic leadership, which can take over for the next 30 years,” senior Pawar said.

Political observers believe that Mr. Pawar’s comment about retirement may be a ploy to make an emotional appeal to the Baramati voters. This was not the first time that he has spoken about retiring from politics. Last year also he had said that he will not contest any election in future. However, responding to Ajit’s statement a few days later that his uncle should retire from active politics because of his age, the NCP founder had said he was “neither tired nor retired”.