MUMBAI, May 1: Former Maharashtra chief minister Sudhakarrao Naik today sprung a surprise by announcing his retirement from active public life.

Naik, who was the Governor of Himachal Pradesh and is currently the All Indian Congress Committee general secretary, made public his decision to quit politics at a gathering of Marathi journalists in the city during the inauguration of the newly-constructed building of the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh (MMPS).

Naik sought to squash rumours that he was bidding for the job of the president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. ``I have been a Chief Minister and I have been a Governor. I am a functionary of the All India Congress Committee. After holding these prestigious assignments, should I be craving for the Mahrashtra Pradesh Congress Committee job?'' Naik queried.

He was presiding at the MMPS function which was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi. Another former chief minister, Sharad Pawar, who helped the MMPS to realise its ambition for an independent building, however, chose to stay away from the inaugural function held on the 37th anniversary of the Maharashtra.

Later speaking to mediapersons, Naik said he was firm in his resolve not to go back on his decision. Chief Minister Manohar Joshi earlier asked him to reconsider on the ground that he had made no mean contribution to the State which continued to need leaders of his kind.

``We will see later about reconsidering,'' Naik said in response to a pointed query, indicating that his retirement is a tactical, if dignified, exit from the battlefield scarred with an on-going war between him and Pawar.

Naik, for a long while, appeared unable to get over his unceremonious sacking as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in the immediate aftermath of the 1992-93 riots following the demolition of the Babri Masjid. He resigned his Governorship of Himachal Pradesh in order to contest the Lok Sabha seat from his home constituency of Washim. Pusad, an Assembly segment of Washim, has been the family seat for years, held first by his uncle V P Naik, to date the longest serving Chief Minister of Maharashtra (11 years), then by him and now his brother. He, however, lost Washim in 1996, which was until then considered a safe seat for the Congress, having stayed with the party even through the post-Emergency crisis faced by Indira Gandhi. Naik was said to believe that his defeat was caused by Pawar men working against his and the party's interests. With Pawar's growing stature at the Centre, Naik, it appears, had little to gain by staying on.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.