Congress non-committal on action against Vilasrao Deshmukh

Congress today remained non-committal on the issue of action against Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in the wake of the Supreme Court's sharp rebuke to him for his interference in shielding a Congress MLA's family from money-lending complaints by poor farmers when he was the Maharashtra Chief Minister.

"Right now, we have not applied our mind. We are in the thick of preparations for the Congress plenary," highly-placed Congress sources said when asked whether Deshmukh could attract action in the wake of some hard-hitting observations by the apex court.

The court said the action of Deshmukh, now the Union industries minister, was condemnable as he acted beyond "all legal norms" for "political consideration" despite Vidharbha region having the dubious distinction of the largest number of farmers' suicides.