Game is not up, Deshmukh waits

As the day wore on, cell phones rang incessantly, aides scurried around, and fearful supporters mostly stayed away from waiting cameras. But it became clear that Deshmukh was preparing his bastion for the arrival of observers from his party high command on Wednesday.

With the Congress in power only because of the support of former Sonia baiter, Sharad Pawar, and seven independents, Deshmukh clearly believed his time hasn’t yet come. ‘‘Everything and anything is possible in politics,’’ he said.

Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is trying to edge closer to Sonia, so that might queer the pitch for Deshmukh’s counter moves. But five of the independents are ministers and the group of seven had crippled the dissidents last August when they made it clear that it is Deshmukh they support, not the government.

If that support is reiterated, he believes there is no threat to his leadership. Ironically — as always in Congress politics — Deshmukh was himself a dissident in 1991. Along with with Ram Rao Adik and Sushilkumar Shinde, now a frontrunner for his post, he had revolted against the chief minister, no other than the man who will decide his fate, Pawar.

So fate has come full circle for the man who rose from an ordinary member of Babhalgaon panchayat samiti in Latur district.

But he hopes the NCP will come through. ‘‘They say they should be consulted since the chief minister is leader of the entire Democratic Front, not just the Congress,’’ he said.

Deshmukh’s major hurdle is now regarded as the fresh alliance between AICC General Vayalar Ravi and one of the constituents of his government, the Peasants’ and Workers’ Party (PWP) led by Jayant Patil. The five-member PWP withdrew from the government last year to protest against the inclusion of NCP leader Sunil Tatkare in the cabinet.

Though Tatkare was later dropped from the cabinet, the PWP declined to join the cabinet. Later, Vayalar Ravi successfully initiated a fresh dialogue with Jayant Patil and aide Meenakshi Patil for the revival of relations between Congress and PWP.

A week ago, Ravi, along with senior Congress leaders from Maharashtra, had also summoned Jayant and Meenakshi Patil to discuss Maharashtra after the Gujarat elections.

At Varsha, Deshmukh carried on normal life, having closed-door meetings with Chief Secretary Ajit Nimbalkar and Advocate General Goolam Wahanwati; other bureaucrats visited him too. But despite his efforts at normality, it was obvious that many politicians stayed away after his dressing-down in Delhi. The handful of Congress ministers who did visit stayed inside, fearful that they might be seen by the media mob and later blacklisted by the new chief minister.

The few who did visit included arch rival and Industries Minister Patangrao Kadam, who is in the race for the Chief Minister’s post, Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Irrigation Minister Padamsinh Patil, Law Minister Vilaskaka Patil, Minister of State for Public Works Balasaheb Shivarkar and Maharashtra Development Board Chairman Ulhas Pawar.

‘‘I do not have to meet anyone, I am not proposing my candidature, it is being proposed by those MLAs who support me,’’ said Kadam, but his inference was clear. ‘‘I will meet the observers and present my versions of what is happening in the state. Ultimately I will have to abide by the decision of the high command.’’

In New Delhi, Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad were named as the special observers who would accompany Ravi to Mumbai on Wednesday. While all the MLAs have been summoned to Mumbai tomorrow to meet the team, an official Congress Legislative Party meeting would be called only after the observers submit their report.

Though Ravi denied carrying any alternative names for chief ministership to Mumbai, he pointed out that the question of leadership change was ‘‘not open anymore.’’ On what transpired at the morning meeting of Mahrastra PCC chief Govindrao Adik and the party president, Ravi said, ‘‘He was not asked to resign.’’ Party sources point out that Adik may be replaced and accommodated in the state cabinet.