Efforts underway to persuade Sharad Pawar to reconsider his decision: NCP leader PC Chacko

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 4 : Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader of Kerala PC Chacko on Thursday met Sharad Pawar and said that efforts are underway to persuade him to remain as party president.

PC Chacko said that the party workers have been demanding that Sharad Pawar remains as NCP's president.

"Our only effort is to persuade Sharad Pawar to reconsider his decision because all of us want Sharad Pawar to remain as the President of NCP", Chacko said.

Chacko further said that the decision regarding the new president will be announced tomorrow after the party's core committee meeting.

"By tomorrow it will be decided who will be the new president of NCP, if not Sharad Pawar. Tomorrow there will be a meeting of the core committee", he said.

Earlier, Maharashtra MLA Rajendra Shingne said that the party workers feel that the NCP veteran should remain in his post as the president and take the party forward.

"It came as a bolt from the blue when NCP president and the former Union Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday suddenly announced his decision to quit his post as the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party," said Shingne.

MLA of Buldhana district NCP Rajendra Shingne met Sharad Pawar after he announced his retirement.

While speaking to the reporters, Shingne said, "After our supreme leader resigned from the post of national president there was a stir in Maharashtra and the rest of the country. Workers and office bearers of the Buldhana district in Maharashtra also said that Sharad Pawar should remain in his post as the president of the National Congress Party and take the party forward."

Rajendra Shingne further said that after talking to all the leaders about the event that took place in Mumbai's Maharashtra, it is everyone's opinion that a committee of 10-12 people be formed so that all of them can take a decision in this regard.

We will then accept whatever the committee decides, he added.

After Pawar announced that he was quitting as NCP chief, some office bearers in the state said they would also quit their posts and asked the leader to reconsider his decision.

On Wednesday, Pawar met people including party functionaries in Mumbai.

The NCP chief Sharad Pawar sprang on the leaders when he announced his resignation as the president of NCP, which he had founded and headed since 1999.

The former Union minister made the statement at the Yashwantrao Chavan Pratisthan in South Mumbai, where he was launching a revised version of his autobiography.

Sharad Pawar, while announcing his resignation, said that he has decided to step down as the president of the NCP after helming it for 24 years and stated that he would not contest any more elections.

He further said that he would continue working in the political, social and cultural life.

The statement was instantly met with emotional protests from party workers and leaders, who urged the veteran MP to reverse his decision.

A day after Pawar's announcement, NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad submitted his resignation from his post as the party's general secretary.

"I have resigned from my post of National General Secretary and I have sent my resignation to Sharad Pawar Saheb. All office bearers of Thane NCP have also resigned after Pawar Saheb's announcement", Jitendra Awhad said.