Adik 'elected', Deshmukh eats humble pie

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, NOV. 25. Mr. Govindrao Adik, who was nominated to head the Maharashtra Congress less than a year ago, was today ``elected'' to the post under the supervision of Mr. P.J. Kurien, pradesh returning officer.

His election is a setback to Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, who wanted a non-Maratha in that seat to make the party socially more acceptable in the next elections.

Though the official word here was that the Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, did not want to nominate a person, the fact is she called Mr. Adik over to New Delhi and told him to continue in office by getting the formality of an election through. Simultaneously, word reached Mr. Deshmukh, quite late last night, that he would have to accept Mr. Adik and back his nomination.

Without a murmur, Mr. Deshmukh, who has objections to the way Mr. Adik ``packed'' the delegates list, thanks to Mr. Kurien turning a blind eye to the process, signed on the dotted line.

Mr. Adik remained the only contestant. Neither nominations were filed nor elections contemplated for the other PCC posts though Mr. Adik had himself prepared a list of his choice.

Apparently, the two sides will now go in for some hard bargaining to get adequate representation for each of them. That would be about the most satisfying thing for Mr. Deshmukh, who could not have his way but is least disposed to complain.

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Section  : Other States
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