Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday announced Supriya Sule and Praful Patel as the new working presidents of the party. Supriya Sule is the daughter of Sharad Pawar and a Lok Sabha member from Baramati, while Praful Patel is a senior party leader and a close aide of the NCP supremo.
Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s nephew, had made it clear that he did not want to take up the role in the party. He was present when the announcement was made by his uncle Sharad Pawar.
The 82-year-old politician proposed his resignation offer to NCP’s leadership last month after serving as the president for 24 years. He made the proclamation during the launch of the new edition of his book ‘Lok Maze Sangati.’ On May 5, a panel of party members, which was convened to deliberate on the matter, rejected the same and encouraged him to remain as the party leader.
Pawar stated, “I can’t disrespect your sentiments. Due to your love, I am respecting the demand that was made to me to withdraw my resignation and the resolution that was passed by senior NCP leaders. I withdraw my decision to step down as the national president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).”
Earlier, NCP said that on Friday, Sharad Pawar was given a “death threat” on social media. Supriya Sule met with Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar in this regard and demanded action. He received a message on Facebook that warned, “He will meet the same fate as (Narendra) Dabholkar soon.”