Deshmukh not to quit Congress

In an attempt to check rampant infighting in the Maharashtra unit, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi yesterday met former state party chief Ranjit Deshmukh, and extracted a promise that he would not quit the party.

Deshmukh, who had threatened to quit the party and join the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ahead of the October Assembly elections, has, according to sources, been mollified by the party high command.

Deskhmukh had issued statements after he was removed as state party chief over his differences with Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. His successor, Prabha Rau , considered a lightweight, was not expected to help matters much during the elections.

"The meeting was to convince Deshmukh that he had an important role in the party," said a senior party office bearer.

"The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government is worried that the BSP will cut into its backward caste vote-bank, and with Deshmukh in tow it would have been a virtual exodus," said the officer-bearer.

According to leaders from Maharashtra, the Congress-NCP government was battling anti-incumbency. "Add to it the self goal on the Savarkar issue and the election result is anybody's guess," said a senior leader.

These are not the only problems facing the party. Rau has little mass support, and AICC leaders who are looking after elections in the state say the party has an uphill task.

"The BJP has set up a committee in every constituency to only address local issues, which I think hold the key in this election," said a newly inducted AICC secretary. "From where we see it, its virtually touch and go for us," he added.

The BJP, on the other had has gone into an overdrive, with jailed former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti expected to hit the campaign trail after her release.

Some of the BJP workers who have poured into Karnataka to participate in the satyagraha are expected to campaign in Maharashtra as well.

Apparently concerned over the fallout of the Savarkar controversy triggered by Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly elections, HRD Minister Arjun Singh on Wednesday said the campaign should "better be kept at low key".

He was also critcal of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for his reported remarks that terrorism would raise its ugly head if the state was not given its due share of waters.