Mumbai: NCP Chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday stepped down from the post of NCP Chief. This sudden decision of Sharad Pawar surprised his party activists and as well as Congress, Shiv Sena and other political party leaders.

After party activists requested and shown of distress Sharad Pawar agreed to rethink and said he needed two-three days. Sharad Pawar announced this decision on the occasion of launching of his biography on Tuesday, NCP leaders crowded the stage. Some leaders wept and many said they would stay put unless the veteran changed his mind.

In the presence of his wife Pratibha Pawar, daughter Supriya Sule, and nephew Ajit Pawar, he apparently made the announcement out of the blue. Ajit Pawar  told message from his uncle Sharad Pawar that I took my decision but because of all of you, I will rethink on my decision. But I need two to three days and I will give it a thought only if the workers go back to their house. Some people have been resigning from party posts too, these resignations should stop, he said.

Sources believe Sharad Pawar could appoint a working president and continue as chief of the party he founded in 1999, after quitting the Congress.

With his resignation shocker, Sharad Pawar has once again shown that he has complete control over the party, a message that had to go at a time there are rumours about his nephew trying to organise a rebellion and defections.

The move to give up his post re-establishes Pawar’s stature as an elder statesman, not just in his party but also in the opposition-verse.

Pawar announced his resignation on camera, which provoked an outpouring of protests and support from his party MLAs. The NCP’s allies in Maharashtra openly wished he would reconsider.