Shinde in state as campaign chief

The All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) decision to bring Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to head the state poll campaign committee has sent jitters among the top party leaders.

Whether it is the Union industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh or chief minister Ashok Chavan, everybody knows that Shinde is a strong contender for the post of the chief minister. Shinde’s acceptability among the faction-ridden Congress coupled with his cordial relations with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar makes him more acceptable in the alliance.

Shinde, who was the chief minister in 2003-2004, had taken a conscious decision to stay away from state politics. But Sonia Gandhi has made him the head the state Congress campaign committee.

The Congress is unsettled by the conglomeration of 21 political forces lead by the Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas Athavale. Hence, the primary objective is to portray Shinde as the party’s Dalit leader to help counter the aggressive third front.

During his tenure as the chief minister, Shinde took several initiatives for the backward castes and Dalits. Now, the AICC and the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee want him to network with the local Dalit leaders and persuade them to support the Congress.

“I am a Congress worker. I will always do the job assigned to me by the party leadership,” said Shinde. Another reason for involving Shinde in the party campaign strategy is to minimise the intra-party factional fights.