Former Union minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar will not be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The NCP president on Monday said that he won't be contesting as the third generation of the Pawar family is all set to enter politics. His daughter Supriya Sule and grandson Parth Pawar will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls this time.
"I thought that already two members of my family are contesting polls this time and hence I felt this is the right time to take the decision to not contest since I already have contested 14 times in the past," he said, reported NDTV.
The speculations are that Parth is supposed to contest from Maval constituency, which is currently being held by Shrirang Barne of Shiv Sena. Parth's candidature was finalised after a meeting with senior leaders of NCP and Sharad Pawar on Saturday. An official announcement will be made soon.
Sharad Pawar was expected to contest this year as he had not fought in the 2014 general elections and the party had said that he would contest from Madha in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, Congress has finalised its seat-sharing arrangement with the NCP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, retaining 26 seats and giving 22 to its electoral ally. After Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra has the highest number of Lok Sabha seats - 48 seats.
