Opinion - Editorials   

The man for the moment

Good leaders are especially needed during hard times. The soft-spoken, low-profile Ashok Chavan takes over as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra during a particularly tough phase in the State’s history. After the Mumbai terror attack, which exposed to the whole world the vulnerabilities and limitations of the security and intelligence agencies, Maharashtra was crying for a leader who would act decisively in crisis situations — not just talk tough in front of cameras and journalists. People wanted a Chief Minister who could plug the loopholes in the security apparatus and also rise above political partisanship and steer the State away from a disruptive campaign of communal hatred and linguistic chauvinism. Although a compromise candidate in many ways, Mr. Chavan is reasonably equipped to manoeuvre Maharashtra through these testing times. Without any baggage from the past, he can put to use his clean and controversy-free political track record in speedily restoring the people’s confidence in the government, so rudely shaken during the unprecedented 60 hours of terror in Mumbai. The son of S.B. Chavan — a former Chief Minister and a former Union Cabinet Minister — Ashok Chavan has the full backing of the Congress high command. What is in question is the support he will need to muster at the State level, from coalition partner Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, and his own partymen, many of whom covet his post.

Whether the Congress picked the right man for the top job in Maharashtra will become clear in the coming months, but the party high command certainly did well to keep out the likes of Narayan Rane, another contender for the Chief Minister’s post. A former Shiv Sainik, the loose-talking, aggression-oozing Mr. Rane is hardly the type of leader Maharashtra needs at the moment. In any case, the NCP’s choice of a former Sainik, Chhagan Bhujbal, for the post of Deputy Chief Minister seemed to rule out the possibility of the Congress nominating Mr. Rane as Chief Minister. A leader who was close to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief, Raj Thackeray, during their days in the Shiv Sena, does not inspire confidence as one who can provide stable and secular leadership to the State and make restoration of peace and security a top priority. Mr. Rane’s suspension from the party is of course no guarantee against the mischief he and his supporters can create on a continuous basis. Mr. Chavan must be enabled to focus all his energies on the tough challenges ahead, without having constantly to watch his own back. At least in healing the wounds of Mumbai, he will be justified in expecting cooperation from friends and adversaries alike.

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

Stories in this Section

The man for the moment
The Gates trap
Some positives amid death and destruction
Maharashtra: a state of crisis
Credit crunch hits political reputations
Global warming demands urgent action
Changing and varying profiles and mindsets
Need for restraint
Time to act
Welcome
Let us introspect

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu