Deshmukh gone, NCP, Cong leaders lobby for successor

NEW DELHI: The CongresS on Wednesday night finally accepted Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh���s resignation as Maharashtra chief minister. Maharashtra industries minister and the late SB Chavan���s son, Ashok Chavan, remains the favourite to succeed Mr Deshmukh.

Mr Deshmukh���s exit has shifted the focus of political activity within the party to lobbying from different factions to fill the post. The party has drawn up a list of possible candidates for its ally, the NCP, to consider which features the names of Narayan Rane, Prithviraj Chavan, Balasaheb Vikhe Patil and Govindrao Adik.

The decision to remove Mr Deshmukh was taken at a meeting of senior Congress and NCP leaders on Wednesday. After the meeting, party���s state in charge AK Antony announced the decision. He will travel to Maharashtra as Central observer and is expected to announce the successor���s name on Thursday after it is cleared with the Congress Legislature Party there.

Mr Narayan Rane, a former CM of Maharashtra from the Shiv Sena and a staunch opponent of Mr Deshmukh, is piling pressure on the high command to accommodate him ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. However, his Shiv Sena background as well as the NCP���s desire to make its senior leader, Chhagan Bhujbal (also an ex-Sena man), the deputy CM could compromise his chances. Mr Rane also does not have the backing of a large section of the Maharashtra Congress which views him as an outsider.

Mr Prithviraj Chavan, minister of state in the PMO, is still facing resistance from the NCP. The NCP has also indicated that it has problems with Mr Ashok Chavan, but there were indications that party could come around to accepting him. The Congress has so far clearly indicated that it wants a Maratha for the CM���s post.

Mr Deshmukh repeated his resignation offer to the Congress on Tuesday night at a meeting attended by senior Congress leaders. Sections of the party continued to lobby for him even on Wednesday, however, by evening it appeared that his fate had been sealed.
Mr Deshmukh had been successful in hanging on to his post despite continued attempts to unseat him over the last two years. His controversial visit to the Taj Mahal hotel along with his actor son, Ritesh, and Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma, seemed to make his staying on untenable.

There were demands for his resignation from both the Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP and from within the Congress in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Mr Deshmukh will be the third political causality of the Mumbai terror attacks after Mr Shivraj Patil, who quit as Union home minister, and NCP���s RR Patil, who was Maharashtra deputy CM and home minister.