Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar asserted on Tuesday that he does not intend to conceal his caste and has never leveraged it for political gain. His statement follows the circulation of a purported certificate on social media, indicating his affiliation with the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, a claim later dismissed as fake by NCP MP Supriya Sule, Pawar's daughter.

Belonging to the dominant Maratha community, which constitutes over 30 per cent of Maharashtra's population, Pawar expressed his respect for the OBC community but emphasized that he has always been transparent about his birth caste. He clarified that while the world knows his caste, he has refrained from conducting politics based on it and will continue to do so. Despite this, he affirmed his commitment to addressing the concerns of the community, news agency PTI reported.