Chavan survives for now, but will NCP merge with the Congress?

Hours after Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi, there was still no clarity on the fate of the beleaguered chief minister, though it appeared that he was saved from the axe temporarily, until a team of cnetral leaders submits a report on the situation. Meanwhile, reports also emerged that the Congress may be attempting to forge a merger with Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party . The reports come just a day after the NCP supremo indicated that the Congress has sought his leadership for the Assembly polls in Maharashtra. The Congress and NCP would both be very keen to hold on to Maharashtra, the last big state the Congress rules, after the debacle in the Lok Sabha eletions. [caption id=“attachment_1528549” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Prithviraj Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra. AFP[/caption] According to reports , Chavan told the Congress high command that continued uncertainty over the impending change of guard will hurt the party’s prospects in the coming Assembly election, but that did not yield a clear decision or announcement on his fate. For now, it appears that no decision will be taken on appointing a new chief minister for the state until senior party leaders A K Antony and Ghulam Nabi Azad complete their scheduled visit to Maharashtra to ascertain the views of Congress legislators on the party’s prospects in the coming elections. “The Congress chief has reportedly told Chavan to make a submission before a panel headed by former defence minister A K Antony on June 28,” the report said. Simultaneously, there is also dissent within the party on the choice of former Union Home Minister and former Maharashtra chief minister Suskhilkumar Shinde as his likely replacement. Shinde, a party veteran with several terms in Assembly and one term in Lok Sabha to his credit, lost the general election from Solapur, his home constituency by nearly 1.5 lakh votes. Even the Assembly segment represented by his daughter Praniti saw him lagging behind. Placing Shinde in the CM’s chair could backfire for the party, it is expected. A report in The Telegraph said AICC general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, Mohan Prakash, was also trying to save Chavan’s job. But Prakash too is under fire from state MLAs, it was reported. For nearly a week now, there has been wide speculation about Chavan being asked to resign. The party high command has not confirmed the rumours but has not cared to stem the speculation either. Apart from leaders including Narayan Rane who have travelled to Delhi in recent weeks to seek a change in leadership in the Maharashtra Congress, NCP chief Sharad Pawar also met Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel and AK Antony last week, reportedly also advising that Chavan be replaced. Reports of the possible merger of the NCP and Congress were met cautiously – this may be the trump card for the Congress and NCP in posting a strong opposition to the BJP-Shiv Sena combine, but it is unclear how party workers and cadre will respond.