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Ranjit Deshmukh, new Maharashtra Cong. chief

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI FEB. 18. The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, today appointed Ranjit Deshmukh as president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. He succeeds Govindrao Adik, who resigned on becoming a member of the Sushil Kumar Shinde-led Government.

Mr. Deshmukh's appointment was cleared soon after Mr. Adik joined the Government, but the announcement was withheld as the Congress leadership was unhappy with him for going public even before the official announcement. Sources said Ms. Gandhi had sounded him out on the new assignment but had urged him to sit on it till the official announcement.

Mr. Deshmukh's appointment is expected to rectify the regional imbalance in the party set-up in the State. Both Mr. Adik and Mr. Shinde are from western Maharashtra.

However, with Mr. Deshmukh's appointment, the Vidarbha region will also be represented. Vidarbha is considered a Congress stronghold and a large number of its current MLAs are from the region.

Mr. Deshmukh's appointment is also expected to assuage the feelings of the Marathas, a powerful social group, in the State, who may have been feeling slighted by the decision to replace Vilasrao Deshmukh as Chief Minister.

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