Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will reshuffle the cabinet post-budget session.
After the Uttar Pradesh debacle, the central leadership of he Congress is all set to bring in changes in the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC). Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will reshuffle the cabinet post-budget session.
The MPCC chief Manikrao Thakre is on his way out and could be rehabilitated in Rajya Sabha (MP) or in the cabinet as a minister.
The frontrunners for the state Congress chief are Hussain Dalwai, Rohidas Patil, Gurudas Kamat and Jayantrao Awale.
"High command Sonia Gandhi's priority is to strengthen the party organisations in all states going for assembly elections," said sources in the AICC.
"The Congress reckons that Maharashtra is going be a difficult pitch in the wake of growing competition from alliance partner NCP on one hand and Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP-RPI and MNS on the other."
Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who was in Delhi, has apprised the AICC leaders about the state. The party opined that the next MPCC chief should either be from Marathwada, north Maharashtra or Konkan.
Thakre is from the Vidarbha region and has been the state Congress chief for the last four years.
Former MPCC chiefs Prabha Rau and Ranit Deshmukh too are from Vidarbha, a stronghold of the Congress.
Over the years, the party has suffered major setbacks in Marathwada and Konkan.
Partymen said chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who is a Maratha and hails from Karad (Western Maharashtra), is the face of the party.
If they have to strike a regional and community balance in the party, the ideal candidate would be from Konkan and Marathwada.
Many say that former Union minister Gurudas Kamat would be suitable as he would provide dynamic leadership. But because he is headstrong, he will not be acceptable to party leaders.
Rohidas Patil has experience but many point out that he failed to win his own assembly seat last elections.
Hussain is untested. But if AICC secretary in-charge Mohan Prakash has a say on deciding the next MPCC chief, then he would moot for Dalwai.
The Congress hopes to win the confidence of the Muslims by making Dalwai the MPCC chief. After the UP elections, the party realised that it lost out on Muslim voters. In Maharashtra, SM Asim was the only minority candidate who was given a chance to head MPCC.
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