Deshmukh: Time out

New Delhi, Dec. 3: Rahul Gandhi has told A.K. Antony, the Congress general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, that chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh must go at the earliest.

Following Rahul’s prod, Antony called on Sharad Pawar. Congress sources said Antony told his state ally that public opinion was growing against Deshmukh and the shows of solidarity for Mumbai victims in the city and outside could not be ignored.

After a meeting Sonia Gandhi held with senior leaders tonight, Antony announced that Deshmukh’s resignation had been accepted and a team would go to Maharashtra to choose a successor.

Pawar, who has a cosy equation with Deshmukh, was “advised” that this was not the time to split hairs over “social engineering” and debate which caste leader would send the right signal.

“He was told we need a person who is seen to be straight, dignified, not given to loose talk, has the big picture before him and, most important, can infuse a sense of security and calm in a city under siege,” a source said.

The name of Prithviraj Chavan, the minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, continues to remain high on the Congress list, although he is not exactly Pawar’s favourite.

“We have great options, if only the NCP doesn’t limit them,” a source said.

Other contenders like Maharashtra minister Ashok Chavan and MP Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil were dismissed as “old wine in old bottle”.

Pawar appears to have realised that people are not likely to be appeased by the ousters of Shivraj Patil and state home minister R.R. Patil.

Deshmukh, who was considered a “liability” by sections of the Congress, made his position more untenable after his Taj tour in the company of a Bollywood director.