Prithviraj Chavan has emerged as the front-runner for the chief minister’s post.
Maharashtra may see one Chavan replacing another Chavan as the chief minister. Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs Prithivraj Chavan has emerged as the front-runner for the chief minister’s job as incumbent Ashok Chavan battles for survival in difficult conditions.
Sixty-four-year-old Prithvi, as he is known among media professionals, has all the right credentials in his curriculum vitae to ascend to the top job in the state. He is a party loyalist, and has proved his administrative and organisational abilities by wearing the twin hats of a minister in the central government and a general secretary in the party organisation. He has inched closer to the chief ministership this time largely because all the other contenders have had a shot at this job.
For Union heavy industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Union energy minister Sushilkumar Shinde, the chief minister’s post has all the attraction that is common for Maharashtra politicians, but in a forward looking party like the Congress, banking on them would be seen as a step backwards.
When Chavan was hand-picked as a successor to Deshmukh, one of the considerations was that the party was preparing for the Rahul Gandhi era. This aspect is still likely to dictate the party’s decision in its search for Chavan’s successor.
The party does have another option in Union minister for social justice Mukul Wasnik, who has the added advantage of being a Dalit face as well. But then, in the Maratha dominated politics of the state, and in the era of a coalition with the Maratha-laden Nationalist Congress Party, the leadership would be more comfortable with one Maratha being replaced by another Maratha, and in this case they happen to be Chavan and Chavan.
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