At the end of a day full of twists and turns, Ashok Chavan was retained as chief minister of Maharashtra. Union defence minister AK Antony said the decision was taken after Congress president Sonia Gandhi approved his appointment in a late-night meeting in the capital. No consensus had emerged in the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meet held in Mumbai earlier in the day.
After Congress’s convincing win in the state, Chavan had emerged as front-runner for CM’s post. However, in a dramatic twist on Saturday, Union industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and state industries minister Narayan Rane joined forces to mobilise support from among the 82 freshly-elected members of the state legislative assembly (MLAs) to dislodge him from the race for CM.
The three-member central team led by Antony, also the Congress general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra, which was in Mumbai to act as observer for the CLP meet, rushed to Delhi after the meeting to apprise the party president of the power struggle. Deshmukh, Chavan and Union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde also headed to the capital.
The decision to retain Chavan was taken there as no alternative emerged, said sources. Deshmukh was needed at the Centre, there was no consensus on Rane, and Union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde was apparently not keen on returning to state politics.
“Also, in Chavan’s short tenure of ten months, the state performed magnificently in both Lok Sabha and assembly elections. It would be unfair to change him at the moment,” said a senior AICC functionary.
Earlier on Saturday, Antony, accompanied by the AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh and deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha K Rahman Khan, held one-on-one interviews with all the MLAs and MPs to elicit their views on a suitable chief minister.
“Some MLAs were vocal on their preference on who was a suitable chief minister,” said Antony. “Others emphasised that they would go by whatever decision Soniaji (Gandhi) takes.” Refusing to spell out the numbers in favour of or against Chavan, he added, “We are going to report the MLAs/MPs views to the high command. Thereafter, a final decision will be taken.”
Some MLAs spoken to after the meeting said, on condition of anonymity, that even revenue minister Patangrao Kadam and Union minister for information and technology Gurudas Kamat, “who are also vying for the chief minister’s post have influenced members to vote against Chavan”.
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