Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) party leader Sharad Pawar turned 84 today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his wishes on his birthday and prayed for his long and healthy life.
“Birthday wishes to Rajya Sabha MP and senior leader Sharad Pawar Ji. I pray for his long and healthy life,” PM Modi wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar along with his wife and party leaders including Praful Patel, and Chhagan Bhujbal visited him at his residence in Delhi to wish him on his birthday.
After meeting his uncle Ajit Pawar said, “Today is Saheb’s birthday, I came here to wish him and to seek his blessings.”
Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge also wished the NCP (SP) chief and prayed for a “long and healthy life”.
Former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in a post on X, “Birthday greetings to senior NCP leader Shri Sharad Pawar Ji. Wishing you continued good health and a long life.”
Further, posters, extending birthday greetings to NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar were put up outside his residence in Delhi.
Who is Sharad Pawar?
Sharad Pawar, born on December 12, 1940, in Baramati, Pune, started his political stint becoming president of the State Youth Congress at 24 and a State Cabinet member five years later. Over his 32 years in politics, he served as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister for seven years.
In July 2023, a split within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) took place when his nephew Ajit Pawar joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and became Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister. In the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance achieved a landslide victory, securing 235 seats, with the BJP emerging as the largest party.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) recognised Ajit Pawar’s faction as the official NCP, granting them the party’s ‘clock’ symbol. On March 19, the Supreme Court allowed the faction to use the symbol, with the condition that its use in upcoming elections would be subject to the outcome of Sharad Pawar’s legal challenge. The court also directed the Ajit Pawar faction to avoid using Sharad Pawar’s name or image in campaigns.
Meanwhile, the Sharad Pawar faction was directed to use “Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Chandra Pawar” and the “man-blowing turha” symbol in future elections.