NAGPUR, NOV 11: State Minister for Agriculture, Ranjit Deshmukh and Minister for Civil Supplies Datta Meghe, are desperately lobbying for the post of Guardian Minister for Nagpur district.Though Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has made it clear that outsiders would be preferred to the ones from the district they hail from for the posts of guardian ministers to eliminate emergence of vested interests group, chances are Ranjit or Meghe would be the choice of the party leadership for the post in Nagpur district. Both belong to Nagpur district.Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday evening, Ranjit Deshmukh, pointed out that the concept to appoint an outsider to the post had proved to be a futile exercise as outsiders had failed to deliver the goods on several occasions.He cited the example of Sushil Kumar Shinde, who was made the Guardian Minister for Nagpur district in late 80s. "He visited Nagpur once a year", he said, and wondered how the development works would be carried out if such people were chosen as guardian ministers.The idea behind selecting an outsider for the post was just to prevent the guardian minister from indulging in the petty politics of the district. There are many examples when a guardian minister of a particular district worked in favour of a particular group and showed a bias towards his political adversaries within the organisation.Among the two, Ranjit Deshmukh has emerged as a formidable contender for the post. If Ranjit gets the job, Meghe may be appointed as Guardian minister for neighbouring Bhandara district. The powerful Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, Prafulla Patel, is reportedly insisting on making Meghe guardian minister for Bhandara district.Meanwhile, the chief minister has set up a four-member committee to prepare a list for guardian ministers. The committee, comprising Ranjit Deshmukh, Rohitdas Patil (both Congress), Padamsinh Patil and Madhukarrao Pichad (both NCP) will soon give final shape to the list.The list may be submitted to the chief minister by November 18 and the announcement of new guardian ministers would be made by November 20 next.The appointment of chairmen to various state-run board and coporations would also be made before the ensuing State Legislature session. The appointment process has suffered a setback as several board and corporation heads did not tender their resignations so far.
