Mumbai, November 11
The discomfiture of Margaret Alva, All India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, has come as a shot in the arm for Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. The Chief Minister, who just completed four years in office, has been hamstrung by Alva, who openly opposed the state government's functioning on several occasions.
Considering Alva’s proximity to Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, most politicians from the ruling party were wary of rubbing her the wrong way. Deshmukh was no exception though he is known to have spoken his mind about her conduct to his confidants. Their relationship really took a turn for the worse when Alva and former Maharashtra Congress Pradesh Committee chief Prabha Rau played a major role in weaning Narayan Rane from the Shiv Sena more than three years ago. Rau, who had chief ministerial ambitions herself, was soon shunted off to Rajasthan as Governor after she turned out to be tougher on the government than even the Opposition.
But Alva and Narayan Rane proved to be a constant thorn on the side of the Chief Minister. Rane’s constant carping and his blatant demands for the top job that got lesser mortals the axe, passed scrutiny with the party leadership mainly due to his patronage by Alva. Both of them, however, were mainly embarrassed after some of Rane’s supporters managed to gatecrash a party event earlier this year where they shouted slogans against Sonia.
Both Rane and Alva had to rush to Delhi and barely managed to save their skins. By the time Rane publicly denounced Deshmukh in New Delhi, even Alva had to distance herself from him, if nothing to save her own credibility.
By then too many of Rane’s enemies in the Congress were turning their swords on Alva. The allegations of corruption that she has thrown at senior party leaders over the denial of ticket to her son may well return to haunt her.
Alva’s own conduct in Maharashtra have been less than exemplary and charges of posts in the state Congress party being sold to the highest bidder have been heard for quite a while. Only last year, Maj Sunil Sawant (retd), who bravely fought Rane’s goons in Sindhudurg for years, quit the Congress blaming Alva for damaging the party with her mercenary activities.
The Alva’s replacement is also expected to see a major shake-up in the Maharashtra unit of the party where several of her appointees are in place.
