Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said he had wanted former chief minister and Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde to fight polls from a seat in Maharashtra`s Kolhapur district in 1972 but the latter`s candidature was rejected by party stalwart Babu Jagjivan Ram.

Sharing an anecdote during an event where Shinde was felicitated, Pawar said the former left his job in his insistence to enter politics.