He has his work clearly cut out. There are more expectations of Vilasrao Deshmukh, 59, in his second stint as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. A known Sharad Pawar (leader of the Nationalist Congress Party "" NCP), baiter, one reason he was chosen by the party high command over the more affable 'Dalit' Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde was its belief that he would bring the Congress party back to the top position in the state after five years.
Today, like his bete noire Pawar, Deshmukh too is perceived as a mass leader. Says a senior government official: "He has a grip on issues across the state, unlike many politicians. who may be experts in certain areas of state governance. Once he decides something, he sticks to his guns, come what may."
This was evident during the last meeting Deshmukh, as chief minister, convened in Nagpur in December 2002, a month after which he was asked to step down by the Congress high command.
Preceeding this meeting, Deshmukh had inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Union government on scrapping the state's monopoly of procuring cotton from agriculturists and letting in private players.
Says a senior bureaucrat who attended the meeting: "Deshmukh allowed private ginning and spinning mills as well as the Cotton Federation of India to buy the produce directly from farmers." In the acrimonious interlude, ministers and MLAs across party lines were all for maintaining status quo. Despite vociferous scenes against the decision, he didn't backtrack.
The result? The state government saved a large sum of money, that would otherwise have been spent on procuring cotton at higher than market rates. That Deshmukh and Pawar do not enjoy the most cordial of relations has been an open secret, since the time of former Union home minister, Shankarrao Chavan.
Deshmukh was then Chavan's trusted aide. In fact, he was pitched head on with Pawar's man Padmasinh Patil in the early 1980s until Latur was spun off as a separate district from Osmanabad.
In 1986, when Pawar became the state's chief minister, Deshmukh was made minister for education. His arch rival Patil was elevated as irrigation minister and then as home minister. It is said that this was a deliberate move by Pawar to slight Deshmukh.
Even as education minister, Deshmukh found himself courting controversy in the BEd college scam. He had cleared government funding for setting up several colleges in the state, including one in his own Latur district.
The state government appointed the NY Dole committee of enquiry, which indicted Deshmukh for releasing government funds without any accountability. Deshmukh got his way back in 1999, when he became chief minister of Maharashtra.
He appointed the Madhav Godbole committee to look into the controversial Enron project. This was followed by the Kurdukar commission of enquiry to affix responsibility at the state and Central government level for the project running into rough weather.
Despite these efforts, Deshmukh too had his share of controversy. He allegedly gave the go ahead for mutlistoreyed buildings in Mumbai without any concern for the city's civic infrastructure.
No wonder, then, that he was pulled up by the Congress high command on the issue. But Deshmukh's recent outburst against Pawar is not controversial, claims NCP finance minister Jayant Patil.
"Nothing much needs to be read into the issue. Simply speaking, there is a reaction to any action. The fact that the Congress has chosen him means that they have high expectations of him in the state," he says.
Deshmukh had said that the NCP was a regional party. And Pawar's retort? "The Deshmukhs who are village chiefs need to worry about the crumbling walls in their own backyards."
Deshmukh is rarely known to have buckled down under pressure and is praised for his administrative acumen. This Congressman who hails from the backward region of Marathawada has never looked back after having been elected to the state legislature from Latur 22 years ago (1982).
He started his professional career as a graduate in law, turning to full time politics as the sarpanch of his native village Babhalgaon in Latur district. This was till his election to the legislative Assembly in 1982.
His ascendancy this time may be sweet revenge for Deshmukh. In 2003, after being in power for four years, he had to step down in favour of the candidate he was chosen over "" Sushil Kumar Shinde.
At that time, Deshmukh, says his friends, blamed Sharad Pawar and the then national Congress leader in charge of Maharashtra Vyalar Ravi for his removal.
Today, Deshmukh's political career has spanned 22 years. His only defeat came in the 1995 Assembly elections from Latur. He was defeated by the Janata Dal candidate Shivajirao Patil Kavhekar by over 30,000 votes. The same year, Deshmukh, despite support from the Shiv Sena party, was unable to enter the Upper House of the state legislature.
But as chief minister now, Deshmukh is once again pitched against Pawar. The Congress is banking on this 'Maratha' to preempt the bigger 'Maratha' leader's plans to cut the Congress party to size. This sure is a new script for the chief minister.
