Former Maharashtra CM had successfully broken Anna’s fast in two previous occasions.
Former Maharashtra chief minister and Union minister for science and technology Vilasrao Deshmukh has proved his mettle in breaking the deadlock between the Centre and Team Anna over the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Deshmukh used spiritual gurus, social activists and members of parliament from the state to soften Hazare bypassing Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal. In the state he has salvaged two serious situation successfully by pre-emtping the fast threat given by Hazare.
Highly-placed sources in the AICC revealed to DNA, “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Deshmukh if he could try to reach out to Hazare.”
Earlier, Singh held discussions with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. Defence minister AK Antony urged Deshmukh to visit Hazare and use his negotiation skills to bring the two sides to a meeting point.
“The decision to field Deshmukh was taken after second round talks between the Centre and Team Anna failed late Wednesday night. Mukherjee’s hard talks with civil right activists Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal lead to fresh trouble with both reverting to their extreme positions. Sensing the situation at the end of Day 10 of the fast, the core group decided to rely on the experience of Deshmukh.
A senior AICC functionary told DNA, “Although Deshmukh came into picture on Thursday, he has been quietly working for last few days.” The tactic Deshmukh evolved was to build the network with close aides of Hazare bypassing Bedi and Kejriwal. Deshmukh was round the clock getting inputs from Hazare confidante which were then passed to Congress political managers.
Deshmukh, who is among the most experienced politicians to have tackled Hazare in Maharashtra, reverted to his time tested and trusted tactics to tap the local players to get inside information from Team Anna camp. A visibly satisfied Deshmukh after meeting Hazare said, “It is our collective wish to persuade Anna to break his fast.
The PM has already given a statement in Parliament to the effect that they were committed to consider the concerns raised by Anna through the Jan Lokpal Bill.” The deployment of Deshmukh came after political managers close to high command Sonia Gandhi realised PM’s handpicked union ministers Kapil Sibbal and P Chidambaram were not able to connect with the Team Anna.
Deshmukh has been most successful in dealing with Hazare. In his two terms as chief minister, there have been atleast a dozen occasions when Hazare threatened to go on fast. But with a great sense of decision making, Deshmukh has always averted Hazare’s agitation. Deshmukh would go extra mile by reaching out to Hazare.
He would not only take time out to listen to the complex issues but also take them to their logical end. A senior bureaucrat who worked with Deshmukh, said, “Deshmukh would personally sit next to Hazare to understand the problems and get the officials and concerned minister to take up the matter with urgency.”
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