A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar announced that he would step down as party head, Union minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane Wednesday said the 82-year-old leader's presence was needed in politics as well as his party's president.

Pawar on Tuesday dropped a bombshell by saying he is stepping down as chief of the NCP which he founded and helmed since 1999, but not retiring from public life. His nephew Ajit Pawar later announced his uncle will need two to three days to "think over" his decision.