Sharad Pawar Must Have Plan For Future, Says His Party's Co-Founder

Sharad Pawar must have a plan for the future, his former associate and senior Congress leader Tariq Anwar said on Tuesday soon after the Maratha strongman announced his resignation as Nationalist Congress Party chief.

Mr Anwar, who was a co-founder of the Nationalist Congress Party along with Mr Pawar, said the veteran leader does not take any decision without thinking it through.

Springing a surprise, Mr Pawar on Tuesday said he was stepping down as the chief of NCP, the political outfit he founded and helmed since 1999.

Mr Pawar made the announcement at the launch of a revised version of his autobiography. His announcement was met with protests by party workers and leaders who asked the octogenarian leader to rescind the decision.

Asked about Mr Pawar's decision, Mr Anwar told PTI that this is his "personal decision" and every politician has a right to take his own decision.

"What the internal matter is we do not know but, as far as I know Sharad Pawar, he does not take any decision without thinking it through. He is a tall leader and if he has resigned from the post, he would have a plan for the future. It depends on him what is to be done," the Congress general secretary said.

Asked about Mr Pawar's contribution, Mr Anwar said, "He has had a prominent role in the politics of the country. He has had a role as an Opposition voice and today also he is working for Opposition unity and calling for Opposition unity."

In 1999, Mr Anwar, along with Mr Pawar and PA Sangma, had founded the NCP after they were expelled from the Congress, about a year after Sonia Gandhi was elected as the party president on March 14, 1998.

Mr Anwar was taken back into the grand old party in 2018. He is general secretary in-charge Kerala and Lakshadweep.

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