The AICC is tight-lipped on whether Maharashtra PCC president Manikrao Thakre will get a second term. While his continuation will be seen as a victory for chief minister Ashok Chavan, a change at the PCC will be described as an attempt to check the chief minister in the party divided in different factions in Maharashtra.
Mr Thakre became PCC chief not because he was a popular leader but because a section of the Congress, especially the then CM, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, wanted a “weak” person to head the organisation after the now deceased Prabha Rau had become a governor.
But the “weak” Mr Thakre switched over to Mr Chavan after realising he could survive only with the CM’s support. However, the issue of appointing a new PCC president was said to have been deliberated by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at a meeting with senior party leaders here on Saturday.