Rumours of appointment as Governor come true after 4 yrs: Rau

Mumbai, Jul 8 (UNI) Newly appointed Governor of Himachal Pradesh and former Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Prabha Rau today said rumours of her appointment as governor, which were pouring in since she took over as the MPCC president, have finally come true after four years.'' Talking to UNI, Ms Rau claimed that during her four-year tenure as MPCC chief, the Congress-NCP government came to power in the state and the party has gone ahead of NCP.

''My achievements were not appreciated by some people,'' she said.

Asked whether her statements that the party workers are against continuing their alliance with NCP proved 'detrimental', the 72-year-old leader replied ''I have just passed on the sentiments of the party workers.'' Asked whether NCP was instrumental in her ouster, she said ''This is politics. Everybody has his own right to play their cards.'' Political observers believe that her removal from the post was the outcome of the ''blatant utterances'' against continuing the Congress party's alliance with Sharad Pawar-led NCP.

However, her term as the MPCC president was ''less effective and lacklustre.'' Political analysts are of the view that she could not infuse life in the party and had simultaneously strained her relations with NCP as well as Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Her blatant statements that party workers were not interested in having pre-poll truck with NCP were not appreciated by the party high command, particularly at a time when the UPA government is facing an uphill task to save the government, and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar was helping the government.

Ms Rau never got along well with Mr Deshmukh. Being senior to him, she always tried to maintain an upper hand, which was never liked by the Chief Minister.

Her tacit support to anti-Deshmukh lobby and even to State revenue minister Narayan Rane was also disapproved by Mr Deshmukh.

With Ms Rau being appointed as the Himachal Pradesh Governor, the race for next state president is heating up.

Mr Deshmukh, who is firmly in the saddle, is trying to have 'his person' at the helm of affairs and former minister from Yavatmal Manikrao Thakare is seen as the front-runner apart from former Union minister Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil.

Political circles cannot rule out the possibility of appointing a working president on the lines of Gujarat to avoid factionalism.

Ms Rau, who was the legislator for nearly two decades since 1972 and also the MP, will be seen in a new role.

Earlier, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sudhakarrao Naik was also the Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

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