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Maharashtra: Congress discusses political fallout

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday began deliberations on the political fallout of the Mumbai terror attacks in Maharashtra and is mulling over changing Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in the wake of the move by the Nationalist Congress Party asking its Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil to put in his papers.

The Congress central leadership held a round of talks with Defence Minister and party general secretary A.K. Antony, who met party president Sonia Gandhi, and said later that the process of consultations had begun. Party sources said one section of the party dealing with the State favoured a change of guard, even as the beleaguered Chief Minister suggested in Mumbai that he had offered to step down from the post in the wake of the terror attacks.

Among the names doing the rounds are Union Ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde and Prithviraj Chavan. Mr. Shinde, the Chief Minister when the party came back to power in 2005, lost the race to Mr. Deshmukh.

Mr. Chavan, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, is also seen as a possible replacement. He has the backing of a powerful section in the higher echelons of the party but those opposing his candidature hold the view that the Congress can ill-afford to put in place a person who has less experience to guide the State through two elections. The Lok Sabha elections are to be held next year and the State Assembly elections the year after that.

Significantly, the former Union Minister, Balasahib Vikhe Patil, is emerging as the dark horse. Mr. Vikhe Patil, serving his 8th term in the Lok Sabha representing Kopergaon, is currently the chairman of the Standing Committee of Defence.

After having been in the Congress and serving as the treasurer of the State unit, Mr. Vikhe Patil joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and served as a Minister in the Vajpayee government between 1999 and 2004. He rejoined the Congress before the last general elections.

The process of consultations will be carried forward after Mr. Deshmukh reaches Delhi.

Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel said it was for the Congress to decide on the Chief Minister. He said NCP party leader Sharad Pawar had no objection to any name that the Congress may consider but the party wanted the coalition partner to consult it before making the decisive move.

Corrections and Clarifications

[A report "Maharashtra: Congress discusses political fallout" (December 2, 2008) incorrectly said, in the sixth paragraph, that Mr. Vikhe Patil was once in the BJP. He was a Shiv Sena MP from Kopergaon in the Vajpayee Council of Ministers. The last sentence in the fifth paragraph said that the "Lok Sabha elections are to be held next year [2009] and the State Assembly elections the year after that". The Maharashtra Assembly elections were held in 2004 and are due next year (2009).]

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