Congress hunting for Chavan successor?
Speculation about a possible successor to Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan is doing the rounds in the Congress after realising that Mr Chavan is not a “lambi race ka ghoda” and thus cannot complete a full term.
The names of Union ministers Prithviraj Chavan, Mukul Wasnik and Gurudas Kamat are doing the rounds to lead the state.
While Mr Prithviraj Chavan is a Maratha from western Maharashtra, Mr Wasnik is a dalit leader from Vidarbha and Mr Kamat from Mumbai. All the three are known for their loyalty to the Gandhi-Nehru family and have experience of working at the national level.
While Mr Wasnik and Mr Kamat are product of the Youth Congress and became MPs because of the late Rajiv Gandhi, Mr Chavan is from the loyalist family whose mother Premlakaki had remained with the late Indira Gandhi during her difficult days between 1978 and 1980.
Mr Kamat had headed the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee at a time when the party was in the Opposition at the Centre and had checked the Shiv Sena-BJP combine in its stronghold in Mumbai in 2004 Lok Sabha and the state Assembly elections.
Mr Wasnik has been working as AICC general secretary and thus handled several states. He will be the first dalit chief minister of Maharashtra from Vidarbha, dominated by dalits and OBCs. The Congress, which is taking on the BSP and its president Mayawati, does not have a dalit chief minister across the country.
As far as Mr Chavan is concerned, he has been closely working with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mrs Sonia Gandhi in both the government and the party.
The Congress cannot afford to undertake experiments in Maharashtra which has ended a one-party rule since 1995.
The presence of the Shiv Sena, BJP and the MNS might have ensured the minorities support to the Congress-NCP combine but they have also eroded the Congress’ political constituency among the OBCs and in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions.
Mr Ashok Chavan is neither a mass leader nor an administrator or visionary like his predecessors.
While Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh continues to be a powerful orator and an organiser who grew from sarpanch of Bhabahlgaon grampanchayat, Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde has been known for his appeal cutting across the castes and regional boundaries of the state.
If insiders are to be believed, a new chief minister would be shortlised from the Centre and not at the state despite the fact that Mr Balasaheb Thorat, Mr Patangrao Kadam, Mr Balasaheb Vikhe Patil and Mr Narayan Rane have been lobbying for the top post.
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