Overhaul of Maharashtra Congress on cards

Mumbai, May 20 (UNI) A major overhaul of the Maharashtra Congress is on the cards next month as AICC chief Sonia Gandhi begins the long awaited exercise to restructure the party organisation at the state level.

Ms Gandhi is unhappy with the functioning of the State Congress and feels that the party unit in the state is weak. Besides, she has not taken kindly to the constant complaining about each other by groups close to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and PCC president Prabha Rau, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), sources told UNI.

As part of the exercise for revamping the Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) and the AICC, Ms Gandhi had summoned the Chief Minister and the party state unit president Prabha Rau to Delhi last week to discuss the revamping of the party in Maharashtra and give the Congress representation in the coalition government a fresh look. Besides this, she also discussed the prevailing political situation in the state in the backdrop of the reports that a large chunk of Dalit and Muslim voters have distanced themselves away from the Congress.

Political observers feel that the proposed revamp is long overdue with only two years to go for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state.

Sources said a reshuffle in the government and the state unit of the party is likely to take place during June-July. AICC General Secretary in charge of the state, Margaret Alva is busy with the Goa elections at the moment and the Presidential elections are scheduled for July.

Congress had lost Pune and Nagpur municipal corporations early this year due to infighting and could not win in Mumbai.

The only saving grace was that the party emerged single largest in the 27 Zilla Parishads and 310 panchayat samitis elections and held on to its own in the 144 municipal councils which went to polls late last year.

Similarly, the party could not win the Jalgaon and Ramtek Lok Sabha by-elections.

There have been rumblings in the state unit that the leadership had failed to introspect the losses and take corrective action immediately.

The sources said Mr Deshmukh has got the approval to effect a reshuffle in the State Cabinet. Even though names of former PCC President Govindrao Adik, Kopargaon MP Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil and former ministers Rohidas Patil and Shivajirao Moghe are being considered for the post of state unit president, a dark horse like Eknath Gaikwad, Member of Parliament from Mumbai North Central, could get the post as he is a Dalit. Mr Gaikwad had trounced Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi in 2004 Lok Sabha polls to enter the Parliament. The name of former MPCC President N M Kamble, a Dalit leader was considered but was not pursued due to his age, sources added.

AICC is keen to depute Mukul Wasnik, who belongs to the backward class, for the job but Wasnik himself is not keen. He has lost the Bhandara Lok Sabha seat thrice by huge margins, sources added.

Even though Mr Vikhe-Patil is a strongman from Ahmednagar district and is capable for confronting Sharad Pawar, a section of Congressmen are against the idea of putting him in the saddle because Vikhe-Patil has been a Union Minister in the NDA Government and was a Shiv Sena MP for over five years, only to return to the Congress fold on the eve of 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

Another irritant faced by the MPCC is that the original Congressmen are perturbed by the fact that people who have defected from other parties are being given prominence in the state Congress. This had led to ex-MPCC chief Ranjit Deshmukh rebelling against the party and contesting as an independent from Ramtek for the recent Lok Sabha by-election. Deshmukh was subsequently expelled from the party.

UNI