‘Deshmukh is needed to counter Pawar’

Vilasrao Deshmukh seems to have miscalculated his moves in the race for the chief minister’s post.

The Congress brass at the Centre feels Deshmukh should get used to central politics to effectively counter Sharad Pawar (NCP).

State industries minister Narayan Rane and revenue minister Patangrao Kadam who supported Deshmukh to dislodge Ashok Chavan failed because Congress bosses never considered them in the reckoning for the chief minister’s post. “Deshmukh was a contender. But there was no concrete reason for dropping Chavan,” a source said.
Though a few raised doubts about Chavan’s ability to run a coalition government in its full term, the Centre did not budge. Instead, his non-controversial and untried leadership worked to his advantage. Also, Chavan took a hard stand against the NCP in his short tenure as the chief minister. This too tilted the balance in his favour.

Deshmukh should take up the role of a statesman, a senior AICC general secretary said. “We want a senior leader like him at the Centre. We don’t have any leader in Delhi other than Sharad Pawar with a mass-base,” he said. “Chief minister Ashok Chavan and MPCC chief Manikrao Thakre delivered good results in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections. We hope they continue to work as a team in the new government.”

Union information minister Gurudas Kamat said he always believed that the high command would take the final decision. “I’m surprised that my name was in the CM’s race. Chavan is my colleague and I will continue to support him,” he said.