Inthe untimely death of Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Maharashtra Congress has suffereda major setback. The former two-time Chief Minister, known for his oratoryskills, administrative acumen, stature, would be missed in the 2014 Lok Sabhaand Vidhan Sabha polls. His pan-Maharashtra image and his national standing --made him stand out of other Congressmen.
"Thoughthere is still time for the next general elections and assembly polls, he wouldbe sorely missed by all of us," senior Congress leaders and politicalobservers said.
Thoughthe Congress has senior State party leaders “ Union Home Minister SushilkumarShinde, who is currently Leader of the House in Lok Sabha and Chief MinisterPrithviraj Chavan - a former Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office “ thetwo leaders do not enjoy as much popularity across the State or the connectwith party workers at the grass-root level as Vilasrao had.
Deshmukh'splus point was that despite his bitterness with NCP chief Sharad Pawar, he hasmanaged to be in the saddle of the Democratic Front government for very long,and countered the NCP whenever needed. "In competitive coalitionpolitics, he was one of the best," a political observer said.
Onone hand Congress is now faced with the growing influence of NCP in thehinterland, and has opponents like the Sena-BJP alliance and the emerging MNSon the other. Even when Pawar was in the Congress, Deshmukh was always hisadversary. During his two tenures as the chief minister of Maharashtra,Deshmukh had resisted as much as he could to check the growth of NCP
In1999, the Congress and NCP fought separately, but came to power together anddislodged the Shiv Sena-BJP saffron alliance. After the 2004 Assembly pollwhich saw the NCP bag as many as 72 seats out of the 124 seats it had contestedand the Congress win 69 seats out of the 157 seats it had contested, the NCPcould have easily staked a strong claim for the CM’s post. But Deshmukhconvinced the party for a deal and kept the CM's post. In 2009, too, he playeda major role in the election strategy.
Unlikesoft-spoken Shinde, Vilasrao was more aggressive in his approach. No wonderthat Vilasrao “ who had been removed from the post 21 months earlier --“ cameto replace Shinde as the chief minister of Maharashtra for a second term afterthe October 2004 Assembly poll.
Vilasraohad to forego his chief ministership after the 26/11 attack and he came to bereplaced by Ashok Chavan, son of his mentor late S B Chavan, an ex-CM andex-Union Home Minister. Though Deshmukh himself came under the scanner in theAdarsh housing society scam, it was Ashokrao who bore the maximum brunt in thescam.
TheCongress swiftly replaced Ashok Chavan with Prithviraj Chavan in November 2010soon after the Adarsh scam broke out. As of now, Ashokrao’s comeback isnot near.
Onhis part, Prithviraj has been at the helm of affairs in the State for the last21 months. Under constant attack from Pawar camp and acute pressure from hisDeputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Prithviraj has survived in the post mainlydue to the trust the Congress leadership has in him.
"Theother Congress leaders and chief minister aspirants like Narayan Rane,Patangrao Kadam and Manikrao Thakre “ whose influence is largely confined tothe Konkan, Western Maharashtra and Vidarbha regions respectively “ are no matchto Vilasrao," a section of Congressmen point out.
