Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar is likely to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Madha constituency in Maharashtra.
A Rajya Sabha member from the NCP guardedly said that Pawar's candidature for the Lok Sabha 'is not yet finalized' but a senior state leader categorically confirmed the decision to IANS.
Pawar, 78, has been a three-time Chief Minister of Maharashtra besides being the Defence and Agriculture Minister in the Centre.
Now a Rajya Sabha Member, the development comes after Pawar repeatedly asserted in the past couple of years that he wanted to quit 'electoral politics' and give space to gen-next in the party. But he hinted at a return to the election battlefield last week.
Pawar was first chosen as MLA in 1967 from Baramati and was also Lok Sabha MP from there for several terms. Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule is currently the Lok Sabha MP from Baramati.
Meanwhile the NCP and the Congress on Wednesday finalised the seat-sharing agreement for their alliance in Maharashtra after Sharad Pawar and Rahul Gandhi met here.
Gandhi met Pawar in the afternoon at the latter's residence. NCP leaders Praful Patel and Supriya Sule as well as Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and K C Venugopal were also present during the hour-long meeting.
Pawar did not divulge details of how many seats each party will contest.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the two parties were in alliance and the Congress contested on 26 seats, winning 2, while the NCP contested on 21 seats, winning 4. However, the parties parted ways in the state assembly polls held months after the general election.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar also had met MNS chief Raj Thackeray Wednesday. Ajit Pawar had pitched for an alliance with the MNS to ensure there is no division of votes as opposition parties take on the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena combine.
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