Pune: NCP (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday hinted at retiring from active politics. He was addressing a rally in Supe village in his Baramati bastion where he said he will rethink if he wants to be a Rajya Sabha member once his term ends. "After finishing the remaining one and a half years of my Rajya Sabha term , I will have to consider whether I should go to back.
I will not contest any election," Pawar said. He last contested the Lok Sabha election in 2009 and won from the then newly carved out Madha constituency. That was the only time Pawar fought an election from outside Baramati to make way for his daughter Supriya to contest from the Pawars' stronghold.
On Tuesday, Pawar said that he wants to make way for the younger generation. "I have contested 14 elections, and every time people ensure my win. However, I have to stop somewhere and make way for the younger generation.
That does not mean that I will be away from social work. I will continue to do it. I do not want power, but I will continue to work for the people," he said in his speech.
On May 2, 2023, Pawar announced that he was stepping down as the chief of his party during an event in Mumbai. His nephew and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who was still with him, backed his decision, other party functionaries persuaded him to take back his resignation. Two months after this episode, Ajit Pawar rebelled against his uncle, split the party and joined BJP-Shiv Sena to be part of Mahayuti govt.
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