Sharad Pawar served as Union Agriculture Minister between 2004 and 2014.
The Nationalist Congress Party today virtually ruled out the possibility of its chief Sharad Pawar contesting the 2017 Presidential elections, scheduled to be held this July.
"Pawar is our party president, head of our Parliament party. Now, there is no question.. There could be several other leaders who can contest," NCP spokesperson DP Tripathi said responding to a query if Mr Pawar is in the race for the post.
Mr Tripathi noted the ruling parties are falling short by 15,000 votes for the presidential polls and sought to wait to see if they want to field a consensus candidate.
"If they decide to field a consensus candidate, all parties (including opposition) will think over it. It depends on what their approach is going to be. There is still lot of time, different parties will think over it," he added.
Having assumed the office in 2012, President Pranab Mukherjee's term in the Rashtrapati Bhavan is scheduled to end in July.
Sharad Pawar, who recently completed 50 years in electoral politics, has had an eventful career which has seen his rise from the grassroots to prominent state and national slots.
The 76-year-old Rajya Sabha lawmaker, referred to as the 'Maratha Strongman' by friends and rivals, has held several key portfolios in the Union government including Defence and Agriculture. Mr Pawar also became the youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 1978 at the age of 38 - a post he held three more times. He has also served as a former chief of the BCCI and ICC.
In 1999, he left the Congress to form the Nationalist Congress Party. Mr Pawar was awarded with the Padma Vibhushan in 2017.