Maharashtra's CM replacement, a part of Congress poll strategy

NI Wire

New Delhi

Wed, 09 Apr 2008: 

Imagine a situation of vulnerable man tied with rope standing just below the hanging naked sword. This is what the existing condition of Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh passing his days in pensive mood whether he would loose the regime of State or be sustained.

And, as per the party sources the three-member panel will take stock of the situation after the ending of the ongoing state’s budget session and will wait until the Maharashtra Assembly passes the state Appropriation Bills by April 11-12.

However, the Congress did not prefer to highlight the issue by saying the review of Deshmukh performance was a periodical in-house exercise. The Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari opined that the general secretary in-charge of the state or sometimes the members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) review the functioning of the party’s state units and the state governments.

Earlier the contradictory statement issued from the Congress camp about the high command’s decision to set up a panel to review Maharashtra CM performance created a hush-hush situation. AICC spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed while denied the reality of such panel, the party’s other spokesperson nodded for three-member committee.

Speculation about Deshmukh’s replacement was prevalent when Congress leadership on Monday had discussed the possibility of removing Maharashtra CM and in his place Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s name was proposed.

The speculation further got boom a day after the reshuffle of cabinet ministry that saw party leader Jairam Ramesh laced with additional charge as minister of state of the power ministry.

As Minister for Power was Sushil Kumar Shinde, so the move prima facie was considered as the foremost step in replacing Deshmukh with Shinde.

Another reason for choice allegedly fell on Shinde for Maharashtra’s CM was his belongingness to Dalit community, which was to be a blow on Mayawati’s Dalit issue, who was trying to hold base into Maharashtra.

Besides his political management skill, and policy and expertise in moving ahead with appeasing all congressmen has an added advantage to support his candidature, particularly Deshmukh failure in handling agitation against north Indians launched by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and later vociferously supported by the Shiv Sena.

The Chief Minister’s replacement move seems nothing but a part of the Congress strategy for the next general election, which is just a year ahead.