India News | Sharad Pawar, You Are Needed in Politics as Well as President of NCP: Narayan Rane
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar announced that he would step down as party head, Union minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane Wednesday said the 82-year-old leader's presence was needed in politics as well as his party's president.
New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar announced that he would step down as party head, Union minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane Wednesday said the 82-year-old leader's presence was needed in politics as well as his party's president.
Pawar on Tuesday dropped a bombshell by saying he is stepping down as chief of the NCP which he founded and helmed since 1999, but not retiring from public life. His nephew Ajit Pawar later announced his uncle will need two to three days to "think over" his decision.
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About Ajit Pawar appearing to be the only NCP leader favouring his uncle's decision, Rane said, "Ajit was making big speeches. He found Pawar's decision correct while the party workers hold a contrarian view."
"Respected Sharad Pawar, you are needed in politics as well as president of NCP," said Rane, a former Shiv Sena leader.
He also took a dig at former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, accusing him of being incapable of taking his party along.
"He (Uddhav Thackeray) is incapable as a leader and this is a fact. Still, Sharad Pawar made him chief minister. Pawar has admitted about his (Thackeray's) shortcomings as chief minister," Rane told reporters when asked about remarks made by Pawar in his autobiography 'Lok Majhe Sangati' (People Accompany Me).
Rane had quit the Shiv Sena in 2005 to join the Congress. He left the Congress in 2017 to form his own outfit 'Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha', which he merged with the BJP in October 2019.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)