PUNE, India, 30 September 2007 — Congress President Sonia Gandhi postponed any immediate decision to replace Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who has been given a month’s reprieve.
A senior Congress leader and MP, speaking to Arab News here yesterday, said that there would definitely be a change of guard in the state and that Deshmukh will have to go. The reason why the Congress high command is not in a hurry to replace the state chief minister is expected midterm elections, the leader said.
The one-month grace for Deshmukh is aimed at enabling the Congress president to evaluate and consider the positive and negative aspects of the chief minister’s sacking in light of the possibility of midterm elections to the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament), said a veteran Congress leader, who spoke by telephone from Delhi and requested anonymity.
Sonia is in favor of a change of leadership in Maharashtra after the Deshmukh government got embroiled in several controversies, mainly irregularities in Waqf properties and the implementation of the Srikrishna panel report.
The writing on the wall was clear for Deshmukh after the recent reshuffle in the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Margaret Alva, the party’s general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, openly expressed her displeasure at Deshmukh’s style of functioning.
