NCP chief Sharad Pawar won't contest Lok Sabha polls, says '2 family members are contesting'

Mumbai, Mar 11: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar will not be contesting Lok Sabha elections, according to reports.

After making the announcement, Pawar said, "I thought that already two members of my family are contesting polls this time and hence I felt this is right time to take decision to not contest since I already have contested 14 times in the past."

"There was a lot of insistence (from within NCP) that I contest from Madha. However, my candidature hasn't been declared yet," Pawar said. The NCP chief also indicated that Parth, son of his nephew and senior party leader Ajit Pawar, may be fielded from Maval LS constituency in Pune district.

Last week, Sharad Pawar had held a meeting with the top leaders of his party to chalk out the election strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The names of probable candidates, including those for the Aurangabad and Nagar seats, were also discussed during the meeting.

Congress party and National Congress Party (NCP) have reached a consensus on December 24 sharing 40 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. However, his decision to not contest elections was not clear.

He previously served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on three separate occasions and held the posts of Minister of Defence and Minister of Agriculture in the Government of India. Pawar hails from the town of Baramati in the Pune district of Maharashtra.

He is a member of the Rajya Sabha where he leads the NCP delegation. He holds a position of prominence in national politics as well as the regional politics of Maharashtra.