The announcement was made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. He will replace Ashok Chavan as the new chief minister of Maharashtra. Soon after his nomination, Prithviraj Chavan met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed political issues.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), in another move, sacked Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal. At a party meeting later, 73 NCP legislators proposed the name of Ajit Pawar, nephew of federal Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, for the post of deputy chief minister, which was approved by the majority and Pawar was elected new deputy chief minister.
The selection of Ajit Pawar as the deputy chief minister and ousting of Bhujbal unceremoniously created friction within the NCP. Bhujbal questioned the move to remove him from the post. Speaking to Arab News, he said: “I am not involved in any scam.”
A group of dissidents in the NCP may revolt against the appointment of Ajit Pawar, who is known for his brash and arrogant attitude. It is likely that the dissidents led by Bhujbal may join the Congress party.
Political analysts told Arab News that as chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan will be required to keep check on the shrewd leader like Pawar and increase Congress influence. The change of guard in the state may result in a major Cabinet reshuffle and R.R. Patil is likely to be shunted out in the shakeup.
Earlier, speaking to the media in New Delhi on Prithviraj Chavan’s selection as the new chief minister, Mukherjee said: “I and my colleague A.K. Anthony had communicated the decision to the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Manikrao Thakre.”
Mukherjee further said: “Former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has done a good job. But we live in a world of perception and the Congress is a mass-based party, hence the change of chief minister.”
Commenting on Chavan’s selection, Sharad Pawar said: “Prithviraj is a good and sober man. Hope he will do good work.”
Federal Minister for Heavy Industries Vilasrao Deshmukh, who is also a former chief minister, welcomed his appointment, saying: “Prithviraj Chavan is a good choice, but I also want to make it clear I was not in the race for the chief minister’s post. I welcome his appointment as chief minister. And here I would like to say that Maharashtra isn’t as tough to run as it’s made out to be.”
Senior state BJP leader and leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, Eknath Khadse said: “The first challenge for Prithviraj Chavan is to manage his alliance. We will see how the Congress and the NCP works together. There is a lot of factionalism in the Congress and he has to deal with that too. He has to work with everyone for the progress of the state and I congratulate him.”
