National   

Adik quits, Ranjit Deshmukh may be new MPCC chief

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI JAN. 24. It is likely that Ranjit Deshmukh will be the new Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief, succeeding Govindrao Adik, who resigned this afternoon. Mr. Adik will, by all accounts, be sworn in tomorrow as a Minister in the Sushil Kumar Shinde Government. A final decision will be taken after Mr. Adik's resignation reaches the Congress president.

The size of the new Cabinet is likely to go up to 62. It will be four more than the Cabinet headed by the former Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh. The new Ministry will have some new faces as well and both the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, the alliance partner, will have two additional Ministers from their side.

The names being mentioned are Dilip Deshmukh, brother of former Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Nilangekar, and Amrish Patel.

Prominent among those who are being retained are Kripa Shankar Singh, Vasudha Deshmukh, and Ashok Chavan. The Congress leadership had initially planned to wait for a fortnight before changing the PCC chief, but with Mr. Adik readily accepting to move to the Government, its task was made easy. Mr. Deshmukh met the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, today and was told to be prepared to shoulder the responsibility.

In deciding on Mr. Deshmukh's name, the leadership sought to placate the powerful Maratha lobby in the State and maintain the regional balance by giving representation to the Vidharbha region.This will be Mr. Deshmukh's second stint as the PCC chief. He headed the State unit in 1996-97, but quit following the defeat of the official Congress candidate, R.D. Pradhan, in the Rajya Sabha polls. He is now Congress leader in the State Legislative Council.

Mr. Deshmukh told newspersons that his priority would be to revitalise the State Congress and to ensure greater coordination between the party and the Government.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• India, Iran to explore prospects in Eurasia
• Rs. 12,000-cr. disinvestment target discarded: Shourie
• CCD meeting on Sunday
• Two Deputy CMs for Rajasthan
• Lok Aayog serves notice on Jogi
• President gives assent to Money Laundering Bill
• Get set for a new Internet protocol
• Adik quits, Ranjit Deshmukh may be new MPCC chief
• Plea to set up radio station in Kupwara
• 9/11 attack 'suspect' returns home
• PM enquires about Maran's health
• Punjab bureaucrat asked to proceed on leave pending probe
• Sonia seeks succour to cane growers
• Amar Singh may be quizzed again by CBI

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu