Cong fears the worst with Kalmadi out of city

Congress sources said the absence of Suresh Kalmadi in the city has created a vacuum in the party as rebels were unlikely to listen to the second rung leaders. They maintain that Mohan Joshi could not spare the time for the exercise since he was busy with his own election campaign. Another senior leader Chandrakant Chhajed is also busy with his own election in Bopodi constituency. They said Kalmadi, who is away in Mumbai, is expected to talk to rebel candidates tonight. What has worried the local party leadership is the fact all the prominent rebels like Hiraman Shinde, Sadanand Shetty, Anis Sundke and Rajjak Khan are known Kalmadi supporters.

Meanwhile, rebels from Bhavani Peth segment have launched efforts to field a single candidate to avoid division of votes. Former minister Prakash Dhere, who was denied party nomination has taken initiative in this direction. Dhere is determined to fight the election while Sadanand Shetty is also said to be not in a mood to withdraw from the fray. The party’s state leadership seems to have not taken any note of the serious revolt in the city unit. Party’s state unit chief Prataprao Bhosale was scheduled to launch the election campaign tomorrow. However, the function has been postponed till Monday.

The leaders fear that party’s prospects might get affected if leaders did not take serious note of the rebel candidates.