Sharad Pawar steps down from NCP President post; Cadre protests at YB Chavan Center (WATCH)

Sharad Pawar on Tuesday announced that he is stepping down as the president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and said that a committee of senior NC leaders will decide the future course of action.

The Nationalist Congress Party chief and veteran leader Sharad Pawar on Tuesday announced that he has decided to step down as party chief. He announced his decision by saying, "I have decided to step down as President of the NCP. I shall continue to participate in political, social, and cultural life."

The leader stated that the future course of action will be decided by a committee of senior NC leaders. “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,” the leader added.

(Photo: Sharad Pawar)

Pawar, who helmed the party since its inception in 1999, said that he has three years left on his Rajya Sabha tenure and shall not run for office in the future. "During the next three years, I will focus more on issues affecting the state and the country. I will not take on any new duties. On May 1, 1960, I began my political career. We celebrated May Day yesterday. After such a long political career, one must consider coming to an end. Greed must be avoided," he added.

There has been no announcement yet on who will succeed him as party chief. The Yashwantrao Chavan Centre in Mumbai, where Pawar made the statement, erupted in protests when the latter made the announcement to quit. The NCP workers in the auditorium demanded that Pawar rescind his decision as soon as the senior leader stated it, stating they would not leave until he did.