Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday withdrew his decision to resign as the head of the outfit, saying he cannot disrespect the feelings of party workers, NDTV reported.

The veteran politician made the announcement hours after an 18-member panel of the Nationalist Congress Party rejected his decision to step down from the post. The panel consisted of Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, nephew Ajit Pawar and senior leaders Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse-Patil and Anil Deshmukh, among others.

Hours after the committee made passed the resolution, Pawar held a press conference where he said that although he is withdrawing his decision, the party needs to have a succession plan in place for any post or responsibility.

Pawar had announced his decision to resign as the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday at a book launch event of the second edition of his autobiography Lok Maze Sangati.

His decision had led to protests by party workers, who arrived in Mumbai from all over Maharashtra and other parts of the country. Demonstrations were held at the Nationalist Congress Party office in Mumbai and several district presidents of the party tendered their resignation in protest.

On Thursday, Pawar told party workers in Mumbai that their “feelings will not be ignored”, reported The Indian Express.

“For the decision taken now, many of your colleagues from outside Maharashtra have come to this place,” Pawar had said. “They want to talk to me tomorrow. We will meet by tomorrow evening. After that, we will take the call on announcing the final decision in the next one or two days.”

Pawar had announced his resignation amid speculation that Ajit Pawar could lead a group of MLAs to join the Maharashtra government. The government is currently headed by Eknath Shinde, who, along with 16 MLAs, broke ranks with Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena to join hands with the BJP in June.

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