Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday announced Supriya Sule and Praful Patel as working presidents of the Nationalist Congress Party.
Pawar made the announcement at the 25th anniversary of the party, founded by him and PA Sangma in 1999, mentioned news agency PTI.
The announcement was made in presence of Ajit Pawar, a key player in NCP.
Sharad Pawar had last month offered to resign from the presidency of the party, which was followed by fervent remonstrations from the party members as well as other political leaders.
An NCP panel formed to deliberate on Pawar's offer had on May 5 rejected his resignation and urged him to continue as the party president.
Who is Sharad Pawar?
Sharad Pawar has been a public representative for 56 years now, he has served as a member of the State Assembly and of the Legislative Council, as well as a Member of Parliament in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
He had earlier announced that he is stepping down as NCP President during the launch of his autobiography.
Pawar also announced the formation of a panel of senior party leaders that would plan the way forward for the party, reassuring the public that he was leaving the ship in good hands.
He asserted that the time had come for him to step back from. “A long period of public life from May 7, 1960 to May 1, 2023” and it was now time to step away from it, he said.
Later, he had withdrawn his resignation on the insistence of his party workers and followers.
Speaking of his resignation, Pawar said, "Party workers, office bearers and my colleagues were disheartened to hear my decision. All my wishers unanimously appealed to me to reconsider my decision. At the same time, the leaders from various political parties, my colleagues and well wishers from all over the country and especially from Maharashtra persuaded me to change my decision."
He had also expressed his commitment to working tirelessly for the growth of the organization and taking the party's ideology and objectives to the people. Pawar's decision to quit had created ripples in the political circles, with several leaders of the opposition parties expressing concern over his sudden move.
