How Chavan managed to be in the hot seat

Ashok Chavan lost his chief minister’s chair perhaps because he got a flat allotted in the Adarsh housing society for his mother-in-law. For Prithviraj Chavan, his mother’s political role got him the edge to get the hot seat in Mumbai’s Mantralaya.

Last night, when the two central observers — Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony spent hours with Maharashtra legislators to know their views, no legislator directly proposed the name of Prithviraj Chavan as his choice for the next CM.

But the Congress high command decided on Prithviraj Chavan’s name not only for his clean image and good governance skills but also his family’s loyalty towards the Gandhi family (especially former prime minister Indira Gandhi) got dividends at the crucial moment.

“In Maharashtra, we required a Maratha leader to replace Ashok Chavan, a Maratha CM. But we also kept in mind that his mother (Premlabai Chavan) was the only Maratha woman leader who revolted against the mighty Y B Chavan to support Indira Gandhi in 1978. She stood against Y B Chavan in his fort of Satara and Karad areas. That was no mean effort,” said a top leader involved in the process of selection of Maharashtra CM.

History also went in favour of Prithviraj Chavan as the Congress leadership remembered that his father, D R Chavan, was a minister in Indira Gandhi’s council of ministers.

Last night, when Antony and Mukherjee landed at Mumbai airport in a special flight, outgoing CM Ashok Chavan was there to receive them. Chavan wanted a last opportunity to talk to the two observers. Later, state Congress chief Manikrao Thackeray was keen to get a similar opportunity but couldn’t manage one.

In the meetings between the legislators and the observers, many favoured Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil as their choice for the next CM. A few proposed the name of Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Union heavy industries minister and a former CM. But most of them also added that Sonia Gandhi should take the final call.

Prithviraj Chavan is termed as an “outsider” in the state Congress circle, as he has spent most of his time in Delhi politics. But his lack of grassroot connections is not a matter of concern with the top leadership. “Now, as a CM, he will make grassroot connections. It is not always possible to find a perfect candidate,” remarked a top Congress leader.