Deshmukh, Shinde succeed in retaining Cabinet berths

Congress veterans Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushilkumar Shinde beat the odds to retain their Cabinet berths.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Deshmukh got the politically crucial rural development and panchayati raj ministry. He was the minister of heavy industries and public enterprises. Shinde retained his power portfolio.

Deshmukh weathered all controversies, including his alleged involvement in the Adarsh society scam, to survive largely due to his proximity with Ahmad Patel, Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s political advisor. He was also slammed by the Supreme Court for shielding the family of a Congress legislator involved in alleged money lending charges. He was then the chief minister.

In his first reaction, Deshmukh thanked the party high command for showing confidence and faith. “I started my political journey as a sarpanch of a small village, Babhalgaon, in Latur district of Marathwada to rise to the post of rural development minister of the country,” he told Business Standard.

Deshmukh, who was the state chief minister twice — for most of the period between 1999 and 2008 — is currently a Rajya Sabha member. He resigned from the chief minister’s post after the 26/11 terror attack.

Shinde, too, was criticised for the poor performance of his ministry.

To complete five years of his tenure in the ministry on January 29, he thanked the party high command. “India will have a record capacity addition of 70,000 Mw, which includes more than 10,000 Mw of captive power generation by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan. Besides, of the proposed 100,000 Mw capacity addition in the 12th Plan, the construction of nearly 60,000 Mw is under various stages,” he said.