‘Have to stop at some point’; Sharad Pawar hints at retirement

Hinting at retirement from parliamentary politics, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said he would have to think about whether he should seek another Rajya Sabha term after his current tenure ends in 2026.

Speaking at a campaign rally for grand-nephew Yugendra Pawar at Supa in Baramati assembly constituency in the district, the 83-year-old leader said he has to stop at some point and make way for the new leadership.

He has won 14 elections during his political career, noted the veteran leader who first entered the Maharashtra assembly in 1967 and was made a minister in the state government five years later.

"With your support, I first went to the state assembly. I became a minister of state and (then) cabinet minister. I became chief minister four times. I worked as defence minister at the Centre. Later, I worked as agriculture minister for 10 years, and today I am in the Rajya Sabha," said Pawar.

Some years ago, he decided not to contest Lok Sabha elections as he wanted to give the responsibility to a new leadership, he said.

"I decided that I will not be involved in the local politics here and gave all the responsibilities to Ajit dada (nephew Ajit Pawar). For the last 25-30 years, he had all the responsibilities. For the first 30 years, I was there, later Ajit dada was there for another 25 to 30 years and now there is a need to make arrangements for a new leadership," he said.

The Nationalist Congress Party faction headed by Sharad Pawar has given ticket to Yugendra, who would be taking on his uncle and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Baramati in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections. Ajit Pawar split the NCP in 2023 and joined hands with the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.

Listing his accomplishments, Sharad Pawar said some development took place when he was holding positions of power.

"I did a lot of things. I waived farm loans of Rs 70,000 crore, worked to increase the prices of agriculture produce, facilitated agriculture exports, gave women opportunities in the armed forces while working in the defence ministry," he said.

Women were given 50 pe rcent representation in local bodies when he was Maharashtra chief minister, Pawar noted.

He blamed nephew Ajit, the incumbent Baramati MLA, for not paying attention to the issue of water scarcity in this western Maharashtra region.