PUNE, 4 January 2007 — Leaders from the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance ruled out any possibility of the removal of State Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh following Revenue Minister Narayan Rane’s recent outbursts against him.
Speaking to journalists in Ahmednagar district on Wednesday, Sharad Pawar, the NCP supremo and federal agriculture minister, said that both the Congress and the NCP would have to discuss with each other any decision to change the state’s leadership.
“I can only speak about my party affairs. Our party leadership is in the hands of Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil. But as both the parties are in alliance with the Democratic Front government in the state, nothing can be done without taking each other into confidence,” he said.
“Therefore choice or no choice, everyone’s legs are entangled in each other. The Congress party is bigger than the NCP, and hence we look toward it as a fatherly figure,” he added.
Senior NCP leader and State Public Works Department Minister Chhagan Bhujbal dismissed the possibility of a change in power equations in the state and said that the differences between Deshmukh and Rane was the internal matter of the Congress. Making an oblique reference to Rane’s chief ministerial ambitions, Bhujbal said that the reasons behind Rane’s unhappiness with Deshmukh was known to everybody and was an open secret.
R.R. Patil, the deputy chief minister and also a senior NCP leader, refused to comment on the tussle between Deshmukh and Rane and said that it was an internal issue for Congress and of no concern to the Democratic Front government.
Senior Congress leader and State Cooperation Minister Patangrao Kadam also refuted the allegations leveled against Deshmukh by Rane and said that the problem would be solved soon. But another senior Congress minister said, “Deshmukh as a leader has failed to interact with the Dalits and minorities. This does not augur well for the state Congress.”
Deshmukh aide Ulhas Pawar, however, alleges there is a systematic attempt within the party to malign the chief minister. He added that the state Congress has blamed him for everything in the past three years from farmer suicides to the power crisis.
Even at the age of 62, Deshmukh remains the most popular Congress mascot. Whether in image building or electoral politics, he is seen as the person to carry both the masses and the classes along. He also commands more support among the 288 legislators than any of his rivals in the party.
Meanwhile, Deshmukh reiterated that there was no threat to his position. “My government is stable. However, the Congress high command will take a final decision. I would be the chief minister as long as Congress President Sonia Gandhi desires,” he said.
