Body blow to Prithviraj Chavan

Ajit Pawar’s resignation as the deputy chief minister on Tuesday has dealt a body blow to chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.

The onus of saving the Democratic Front government rests on Chavan’s shoulders as rivals within the Congress have in the recent past seized the opportunity to pinpoint his leadership failure in running the coalition in Maharashtra. Moreover, it is no secret in the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that Chavan has been openly speaking against alleged corruption in the irrigation sector. It was his brainchild to put out a white paper on irrigation projects.

Chavan has always maintained that “the people have the right to know what happened to the Rs75,000-crore invested in irrigation projects.”

Even a couple of days ago, the CM had reiterated, “My government is committed to [publishing a] white paper on the irrigation sector.”
Pawar, who held the portfolio of the water resources minister for a decade from 1999, maintained, “The entire issue is being projected as if I have committed the corruption. My conscious is clean. And, soon it will be proved.”

Fearing that Pawar’s resignation will have a domino effect on the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the state All-India Congress Committee (AICC) unit has sent a strong message to Chavan to ensure that things that don’t get out of hand. A senior AICC general secretary said, “At this moment, we cannot let the Congress and NCP alliance break in Maharashtra. The UPA in already in trouble after the Trinamool Congress withdrew its support. If the NCP distances itself from Congress, then we will not only lose Maharashtra but will also become vulnerable at the Centre.”

Soon after Pawar announced his resignation, central leaders reached out to NCP president Sharad Pawar, who assured them that he would not allow the governments at the state and the centre to destabilise. On his part, Chavan kept the Centre apprised of the developments in the state.

Ahmed Patel, AICC general secretary who is also the political advisor to party high command Sonia Gandhi, was asked to hold discussions with union heavy industries minister Praful Patel, who is also from the NCP.

Shortly, after his return to Mumbai after he cut short his visit to Pune, Chavan convened a meeting with senior Congress leaders and cabinet ministers. A senior cabinet minister said, “We will have to rely on the central leadership of the Congress and the NCP to resolve the crisis.”

Congress ministers and leaders’ repeated attempts to reach out to Pawar were reportedly in vain.