Best of all worlds

Vilasrao Deshmukh, the former Maharashtra chief minister who has been given the statistics and planning portfolio, is upset but not unduly so. This is because he knows he has the backing of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. Pawar had the choice of putting up a candidate against Deshmukh in the Rajya Sabha, but opted not to. He also supported Deshmukh’s bid to become the chief minister. So, whether he is in the Rajya Sabha or in state politics, Deshmukh knows the Congress ally will always be on his side. So, how does it matter whether he is in the ministry of statistics or any other?