The fate of beleaguered Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is uncertain in the wake of Congress's debacle in the Lok Sabha polls while a decision is awaited on the offer by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to resign after the party's dismal showing in his state.
The Congress brass is grappling with the issue of changes, if any, in Congress-ruled states where it performed poorly in the polls.
A senior party leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that with Assembly polls in Maharashtra due within six months, the party will have to think about corrective measures at the earliest.
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The leader said that the case of Maharashtra was different from other Congress-ruled states like Haryana, Uttarakhand and Assam where too the party had taken a beating in the parliamentary polls.
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who managed to win one of the two seats which Congress retained in the state, has already trained his guns on Prithviraj Chavan.
"In areas where the leadership was strong, the Narendra Modi wave did not have an impact," he had said in an apparent dig at Prithviraj Chavan.
"The party needs to do a thorough analysis to look into what went wrong and take corrective measures," Ashok Chavan had said.
Prithviraj Chavan had opposed the decision to give Ashok Chavan a party ticket due to his alleged involvement in the Adarsh scam, but the latter went on to contest and win a Lok Sabha berth from Nanded.
Ashok Chavan's criticism comes at a time when many within Maharashtra Congress are demanding a leadership change ahead of Assembly polls. Several senior ministers are reportedly vying for the chief minister's chair.
Last week, Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane and EGS Minister Nitin Raut had sent in their resignations in a move which is being seen as attempt to force Prithviraj Chavan's exit. Both resignations were rejected.
Meanwhile, Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil met Gandhi today. Patil was a senior leader from Maharashtra before becoming governor.
Sushilkumar Shinde, the former Home Minister who lost in the Lok Sabha polls, has left for Mumbai.
