Is Maharashtra Congress about to face a rebellion?
If there's any region in Maharashtra that's become all-important to both, the BJP and the Congress, it is Vidarbha. The eastern part has become the state's talking point and it's not just because the newest chief minister comes from there. The region is also the new epicenter of the trouble that's brewing in the Congress. Two MLAs reportedly are leading the shift to the BJP and are busy gathering a group of Congress legislators to make the final move.
The MLAs have, for long, been bitter opponents of former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. After the poor performance of the party in the Lok Sabha and the Assembly polls, the two are now planning a move that could hit the Congress hard. Covert efforts are on to collect a group of at least 28 legislators from the Congress and shift out of the party en bloc. The figure is important to ensure that the legislators are not punishable under the Anti-Defection Law.
The Congress has 43 legislators in the new Assembly. If two thirds of the legislators shift or merge with another party, they do not face action under the Anti Defection Law. If these two rebel MLAs manage to gather support of 26 other colleagues, they can form a new group in the Assembly or merge with the BJP. The two thirds numbers will ensure that they will neither be disqualified nor will have to face fresh elections.
For the past few years, there's been constant unrest brewing in the Maharashtra Congress. Senior Congress leaders have been at loggerheads with Chavan accusing him of being ineffective. Several factions and leaders have even taken their complaints to the party bosses asking for Chavan's removal, which wasn't implemented. In July, former industries minister Narayan Rane put in his papers, stating a lack of faith in Chavan's leadership before he was cajoled to stay put in the party and share responsibility of the election campaign.
The party's loss in the state Assembly polls has led to further unrest with the state unit. The former CM is being blamed for the party's poor performance in the elections and his party men are sure not to let go of the smallest opportunity to attack him. Various factions, owing allegiance to different leaders, are reportedly drawing up a list of complaints about Chavan to be conveyed to the bosses.
Chavan further irked his colleagues in the Congress when he, in a newspaper interview on the eve of the elections, confessed that he couldn't take action against his colleagues such as Sushilkumar Shinde, Ashok Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh for their alleged role in the Adarsh scam for fear of rebellion. Some factions demanded his immediate removal; others asked for an apology for jeopardizing the party's interests on the eve of election day. Even as Shinde and Ashok Chavan promised to react at an appropriate time, Narayan Rane strongly criticized the comments. The rebellion against Chavan, quelled only a few weeks earlier, was out in the open, yet again.
In a newspaper interview, that became the talk of the town just a day before polling, Chavan confessed that didn't take action against Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and Ashok Chavan for their alleged role in the Adarsh scam, for fear of a rebellion. In the same breath, he also said that he hadn't given his former cabinet colleague Ajit Pawar any clean chit in the irrigation scam. An angry NCP got back at Chavan by supporting Congress rebel Vilas Patil Undalkar against the former CM from the Karad South Assembly constituency.
As news of GK Vasan's resignation spread, a senior Congressman in Maharashtra predicted a similar development in the party in his home state. It was a matter of a few days, or maybe weeks, he said, before the rebellion in the party came out in the open, once again. The Congress is likely to face a bitter blow that's set to come from Vidarbha.