Veteran politician Sharad Pawar on Tuesday announced that he has decided to step down as the president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after helming it for 24 years and stated that he will not contest any more elections. Reacting to Pawar`s resignation senior political leaders said it is an internal matter yet they will try to withdraw his resignation. 

In a move that came as a surprise to many, veteran politician Sharad Pawar on Tuesday resigned as president of the Nationalist Congress Party, the political outfit he floated more than two decades ago. "I have decided to step down as the president of the NCP," Pawar said at a press briefing. His announcement was greeted by loud exclamations from the gathering. Pawar, however, made it clear that he was not taking a backseat from politics. "My colleagues, even though I am stepping down from the post of president, I am not retiring from public life," he said.