Mumbai:
As always, the Congress has proved that it is its worst enemy. So at a time when its Chief Minister in Maharashtra is in the line of fire, a section of the Congress is providing the ammunition.
More than 40 of the Congress' 82 MLAs in Maharashtra have written a letter that does not name Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, but makes the point nonetheless that they are unhappy with his leadership. The note says that that when they tour their constituencies, they face angry voters who are upset because major projects have not been sanctioned. Mr Chavan holds the urban development portfolio; the implication is that it is his office that's to blame.
The letter is addressed to the man who heads the Congress party in Maharashtra, Manickrao Thackeray. He said that there is no revolt within the Congress against the Chief Minister. But the signatories are believed to be loyalists of former chief ministers including Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan, who faces criminal charges of corruption by the CBI for his alleged role in the Adarsh scam - apartments in a high-rise meant for war windows and veterans were allotted to the families of politicians, bureaucrats and defence officers.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is already at the frontlines of the current battle between the Congress and Sharad Pawar's party, the NCP. Together, they run the government in Maharashtra, but a relationship that has always been one of uncomfortable co-existence is now coming apart at the seams. NCP leader Praful Patel said today that his party has not asked the Congress for a change in leadership. But his party has accused Mr Chavan of inefficiency and under-performance. The fractured relations in Maharashtra are believed to be the reason why Mr Pawar has told the Prime Minister that he is contemplating quitting the coalition at the Centre. Mr Patel's statement last evening suggested back-channel talks are having the desired effect.
"We continue to be an integral part of UPA and our relationship with UPA will continue till 2014. We are supporting UPA as a core ally and will continue to support this government till the very end," Mr Patel said yesterday.
When Prithviraj Chavan was deputed from Delhi to take over as chief minister in November 2010, his brief from his party was to decontaminate the Maharashtra branch of the Congress. In three terms in power, the Congress and its partner, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), had been accused of engineering and permitting systematic graft.
Mr Chavan is widely acknowledged as a sincere and honest leader. His attempts to clean-up - both his party and the NCP- have reportedly not gone down well. The NCP is unhappy with his request for a detailed investigation into why 70,000 crores spent in the last 10 years on irrigation have changed very little on the ground. The Irrigation portfolio is held by the NCP. Its senior leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal are combating allegations of corruption from an aggressive BJP. They say the Chief Minister is only making things worse.