'Age Is Just A Number': Sharad Pawar Urges Cong Veteran Sushilkumar Shinde To Keep Serving Maharashtra At 84

Mumbai: Suggesting that age is just a number, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday appealed to Congress veteran Sushilkumar Shinde to remain active in social life to make Maharashtra an important state in the country.Pawar attended a function to mark the 84th birthday of Shinde, a former Union Home Minister, where key political figures had gathered."Shinde should not take his age too seriously even though he turned 84. I am eight months older than him. We still have a lot of work to do to make Maharashtra an important state in the country. We should remain active (in social life) to guide the new generation," he said.When he was Union Home Minister, Shinde, in 2014, had described Sharad Pawar as his "political guru", saying he would be happy to see the NCP founder become the Prime Minister.Shinde's personal and political life is marked by unexpected turns. Born in a Scheduled Caste community in Solapur, Shinde became a lower-rank police official. He gradually climbed up the Congress ladder to become the chief minister of Maharashtra from January 2003 to November 2004.Shinde joined the Congress party in 1971. He was elected as an MLA on multiple terms. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra in 1992 and to Lok Sabha in 1998. He served as the governor of Andhra Pradesh from October 2004 to January 2006.Shinde had represented ministries of Home Affairs and Power in the erstwhile Manmohan Singh governments.In recent years, the Congress veteran has failed to ensure victory for himself in Lok Sabha elections. He was defeated by BJP candidates in 2014 and 2019 in the Solapur Lok Sabha seat. Currently, his daughter Praniti Shinde represents this constituency. (This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)