Told to come at once, Gurudas Kamat offers to quit

The cabinet reshuffle has left the Congress state unit miffed with many leaders feeling prime minister Manmohan Singh gave Maharashtra a raw deal.

Gurudas Kamat, who was made MoS with independent charge of drinking water and sanitation, felt the PM had sidelined him. With Murli Deora offering to resign, Kamat — being the most senior of the Congress MPs from Mumbai after Deora — had hoped to make it to the cabinet. When he found that was not the case, he stayed away from the swearing-in.

The Congress leadership, which had warned of strict action against those staying away, asked Kamat to resign. The five-time MP issued a statement late in the evening that he had written to Sonia Gandhi and Singh that he wanted to resign and work for the party in the state.

Though it is not clear if the high command will accept Kamat’s resignation or force him to take charge of his new department, the development has the potential to hurt the party’s chances during the 2012 BMC elections.

The other setback for the party in the state was Vilasrao Deshmukh. He was shifted from rural development to science and technology. State leaders feel the new portfolio is a punishment posting. “He did not excel as rural development minister and his image took a beating after the Adarsh scam broke out,” a senior AICC official agreed. Also, Deshmukh joining hands with NCP chief Sharad Pawar for the Mumbai Cricket Association elections did not go down well with the party top brass.

Another leader said Milind Deora’s induction sends out mixed messages. “It is good that a young and dynamic leader like Deora has become the MoS for communications and IT,” he said. “But it also shows the party promotes dynastic culture because he was inducted after his father resigned.”