New York, April 20: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will join President Donald Trump's legal team, which is also acquiring two other new members, his attorney, Jay Sekulow said.

Sekulow, who along with attorney Ty Cobb is representing Trump in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election headed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, made the announcement after Giuliani confirmed the decision to The Washington Post.

Giuliani, who said he had made the decision last week at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida, joins the legal team that had been reduced to a bare minimum at a key time in the probe, given that Mueller wants to question the president in the very near future, Efe news reported.

According to Sekulow's statement, Trump emphasised the long friendship between him and the Republican ex-mayor, saying "Rudy is great. He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country."

"It is an honour to be a part of such an important legal team, and I look forward to not only working with the President but with Jay, Ty and their colleagues," Giuliani said in a statement.

Sekulow also announced that Jane Serene Raskin and Marty Raskin, whom he described as very respected former federal prosecutors with decades of experience, will also be joining Trump's legal team.

Giuliani's law firm, Greenberg Traurig, said on Thursday that the former mayor will be taking a "leave of absence ... for an unspecified period of time to handle matters unrelated to the law firm or its clients.

Giuliani told the Post that on Thursday he spoke with Trump and Sekulow about the strategy the legal team will pursue, although he said it was too early to say whether the president would agree to be interviewed by Mueller.

The ex-mayor said that his advice regarding Mueller to Trump had been to let the special counsel do his job.

The additions to Trump's legal team come after the March resignation of John Dowd, who had been the president's main lawyer on issues relating to the Russia probe.

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Pune, Nov 5: Hinting at retirement from parliamentary politics, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said he will have to think about whether he should seek another Rajya Sabha term after his current tenure ends in 2026.

Speaking at a campaign rally for grand-nephew Yugendra Pawar at Supa in Baramati assembly constituency in the district, the 83-year-old leader said he has to stop at some point and make way for the new leadership.

He has won 14 elections during his political career, noted the veteran leader who first entered the Maharashtra assembly in 1967 and was made a minister in the state government five years later.

"With your support, I first went to the state assembly. I became a minister of state and (then) cabinet minister. I became chief minister four times. I worked as defence minister at the Centre. Later I worked as agriculture minister for ten years, and today I am in the Rajya Sabha," said Pawar.

Some years ago, he decided not to contest Lok Sabha elections as he wanted to give the responsibility to a new leadership, he said.

"I decided that I will not be involved in the local politics here and gave all the responsibilities to Ajit dada (nephew Ajit Pawar). For the last 25-30 years, he had all the responsibilities. For the first 30 years, I was there, later Ajit dada was there for another 25 to 30 years and now there is a need to make arrangements for a new leadership," he said.

The Nationalist Congress Party faction headed by Sharad Pawar has given ticket to Yugendra, who would be taking on his uncle and deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Baramati in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections. Ajit Pawar split the NCP in 2023 and joined hands with the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.

Listing his accomplishments, Sharad Pawar said some development took place when he was holdings positions of power.

"I did a lot of things. I waived farm loans of Rs 70,000 crore, worked to increase the prices of agriculture produce, facilitated agriculture exports, gave women opportunities in the armed forces while working in the defence ministry," he said.

Women were given 50 percent representation in local bodies when he was Maharashtra chief minister, Pawar noted.

He blamed nephew Ajit, the incumbent Baramati MLA, for not paying attention to the issue of water scarcity in this western Maharashtra region.

"While I was the chief (minister) of the state, I gave approval to the Janai Shirsai (water lifting) project in Baramati. The responsibility to carry out the work was given to the next leadership (Ajit Pawar). Unfortunately, he did not complete the work," Sharad Pawar claimed.

New leadership was needed for completing these incomplete works, he added.

"I can only give one assurance. I am not in power. I am in the Rajya Sabha and I got one and a half years' term left. Afterwards, I will have to take the decision as to whether to go to the Rajya Sabha again. I will not contest Lok Sabha, nor will I contest any (other) election. I have contested 14 elections so far and every time, you have made me victorious, and that is why there is a need to stop somewhere. And that is why I have started working to bring in a new leadership," he said.

This, however, does not mean he will retire from the social sphere, Sharad Pawar said.

"I will not be in power, but will continue to work for the people, work for the drought-affected regions, the marginalised segments of society," he said.

Sharad Pawar contested and won his first assembly election from Baramati in 1967, and represented the constituency till 1991 when he was made defence minister in the P V Narasimha Rao government.

Pawar, who has won Lok Sabha elections seven times during different phases of his career, was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2014. He is currently in his second term as a member of the Upper House of Parliament.

His daughter Supriya Sule is the Lok Sabha MP from Baramati since 2009.

Baramati saw a fight within the Pawar family for the first time in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections when Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar contested against Sule. The assembly constituency would now witness a contest between Ajit and his nephew.