MUMBAI, 16 August 2007 — Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh appears to have weathered the political storm over the implementation of Srikrishna Commission report. The Congress leadership has given him the permission to go ahead for the Cabinet reshuffle of his ministers by August-end as well as the long-pending appointments of boards and corporations.
Even as the clouds of dissent within the Congress party are hovering over the head of state, yet the Congress leadership in New Delhi has given him some reprieve, though temporarily. Congress President Sonia Gandhi made it clear to Deshmukh that the party must make good on its promise to implement the Srikrishna Commission report and asked the chief minister to hasten the process of its implementation.
Deshmukh appeared relaxed after meeting the Congress president and federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil. Speaking to journalists after his return from New Delhi, Deshmukh said that Sonia had asked him to take necessary action toward the implementation of the Srikrishna Commission report and to fill the vacancies in various state government corporations.
Deshmukh explained all that he had done in detail with regard to the Srikrishna Commission report. The Congress president made a few suggestions. A change in leadership was certainly not on the agenda, a senior Congress leader said.
The Maharashtra chief minister who met Sonia and Patil separately, said that he had briefed both the leaders of the action taken so far on the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission and clarified that the state government had not closed the Srikrishna Commission report issue. "The state government is committed to honor the promises it made in its election manifesto in 1999, and that a special committee set up by the Mumbai police commissioner is looking into the matter," he said.
Referring to the directions of the Supreme Court, Deshmukh said the apex court has suggested that all the petitioners should file a single petition highlighting the lapses where action has not been taken as per the Srikrishna Commission report, and the apex court would look into those lapses, Deshmukh pointed out.
Asked whether the left parties were exerting pressure on the federal and state government for the implementation of the commission report, Deshmukh shot back: “Where do these parties exist in the state?.” Refusing to reply to the question whether the left parties would rake up the question of the communal riots and the Srikrishna Commission in the ongoing session of both houses of Parliament, and about the challenge and threat of Shiv Sena to the government to implement the Srikrishna Commission report, Deshmukh dismissed both the questions with a wave of the hand, saying: "There is no need to take any cognizance of the Sena threat and to give them any importance."
In all 650 cases out of 2,270 were beyond the jurisdiction of the Srikrishna Commission, Deshmukh said and still 350 cases were being investigated. When told that Sonia was angry with him over inaction in the commission report, Deshmukh said "I too am not satisfied with the implementation of the commission report, nor anyone would be satisfied till the report is implemented," he added.
Meanwhile, Margaret Alva, the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) met Sonia and presented to her a comprehensive confidential report on the failures of Deshmukh and expressed serious concern over alienation of minorities and dalits under the present leadership in the state. The report also highlighted the growing wedge between the Congress and NCP.
A copy of the report was also handed to the Prime Minister's Office. An official of the PMO acknowledge receipt of the report, but said that preliminary findings suggest it lacks in-depth research.
Alva in her report states that "the Congress members behaving politically correctly in Mumbai often come with loads of complaints against their leadership.” Several delegations had also called upon her last week in Mumbai to heighten their anti-Deshmukh campaign, said a Congress leader
The chief minister's friendship with the Shiv Sena and the BJP has also been highlighted in the report. The thrust of Alva's report was that the party will have to take corrective measures to arrest Muslims and dalits from drifting to other parties.
With Congress dissidents giving no respite to their campaign to oust the chief minister, it is likely that the Congress High Command may have to review its stand of continuing with Deshmukh, but not until the Cabinet reshuffle is done in this month-end, said a senior Cabinet colleague of the chief minister.
