With the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) apparently ready with their list of ministerial candidates for the Cabinet expansion, the Congress is yet to reveal its cards as its leadership is taking time to ensure all sections of society are represented in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, say party sources.
A section of the party leadership from Pune and western Maharashtra is hoping former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan is given a major portfolio, failing which they want him to be put in charge of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) to revive the party’s sagging fortunes in the State.
“Soon after the Assembly polls, Mr. Chavan was among the first of the [then] opposition leaders to predict that the BJP would not achieve a majority and form a government. He subsequently took the lead in ensuring the formation of the MVA. He has a clean image, is extremely knowledgeable, has a lot of experience in overseeing party affairs in other States, and knows the pulse of the workers. Mr. Chavan ought to be given a major ministerial post considering his contribution to the party,” Pune City Congress general secretary Ramesh Iyer said.
Mr. Iyer also said that fresh faces must be inducted at the city and State level to shore up the party’s organisation in Pune district, as several leaders had been holding multiple posts for years, leading to stagnant leadership.
A city-based analyst pointed to Mr. Chavan’s good relations with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, implying that a mjaor role for him might help prevent friction between the Sena and the Congress.
In the wake of speculation that Mr. Chavan may not be given a Cabinet berth, his supporters are gunning for the Congressman to be appointed MPCC chief. “It would certainly help revive the party’s waning fortunes in Maharashtra before the municipal polls slated in 2022,” said a Congress leader.
In the Assembly polls, Mr. Chavan won a stiff three-way contest in Karad South against BJP’s Atul Bhosale and Independent candidate Udaysinh Undalkar, the son of Mr. Chavan’s arch rival and senior Congress leader Vilas ‘Kaka’ Undalkar. He managed to weather the high-decibel campaigns of Home Minister Amit Shah in Karad and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Satara, who specifically targeted him.
Meanwhile, Vidarbha is set to see significant representation in the Cabinet as the Congress performed particularly well there, upsetting the BJP on its “home turf”. Of its 44 MLAs, the Congress has 15 legislators from Vidarbha. While Nagpur North MLA Nitin Raut has already been sworn in as minister, other notable contenders from the region include former leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar, three-time MLA from Saoner Sunil Kedar (a party loyalist and son of late Congressman Babasaheb Kedar), and three-time MLA Yashomati Thakur, the lone woman legislator from Vidarbha.
“Mr. Kedar and his family have always stood by the Congress’s vicissitudes of political fortune in the State. In Mr. Wadettiwar, the party has an aggressive leader with a mass base, who has proved capable of taking the BJP head-on. Ms. Thakur is likely to be offered a berth keeping in mind the gender representation factor from Vidarbha,” said another party leader.
Pune district and western Maharashtra, too, offer interesting choices for the party. The Congress leadership in Pune is especially eager for Sangram Thopate, three-time Congress MLA from Bhor, to get a ministerial berth. Mr. Thopate is the son of another veteran Congressman and party loyalist, Anantrao Thopate. A berth for him could well turn the Congress’s fortunes in Pune district, which have plummeted since the political twilight of Suresh Kalmadi.
Other youthful aspirants for ministerial positions are Palus-Kadegaon MLA Vishwajeet Kadam, the son of late Congress leader Patangrao Kadam, and Solapur City Central MLA Praniti Shinde, daughter of veteran party leader Sushilkumar Shinde.
