NEW DELHI, JULY 4: The Maharashtra crisis in the Congress appears to be just beginning for the party with MPCC chief Ranjit Deshmukh's sacking yesterday threatening to undo Congress unity in the crucial state.Deshmukh met party president Sonia Gandhi today before leaving for Nagpur and was given the news that his resignation had been accepted. A seemingly hurt Deshmukh told The Indian Express on phone from Nagpur that this has caused a great deal of resentment among his supporters.``There is a lot of resentment among people here (at his sacking) and it can take a serious turn. Questions are being asked why I was held responsible when people who actually took the money and cross-voted haven't been penalised for want of proof,'' he said.This is a significant statement as Deshmukh is one of Lok Sabha Opposition leader Sharad Pawar's key men and it indicates the anger in the Pawar camp at what happened. It appears that Deshmukh was hoping his resignation wouldn't be accepted after he put in his papersciting ``moral responsibility'' for the defeat of Sonia's nominee R D Pradhan in the June 3 Rajya sabha elections from Maharashtra.The former PCC chief was not in the eye of the storm initially when Sonia's three-member CWC team returned with its first assessment of the RS poll fiasco. The team, comprising of party Disciplinary Action Committee (DAC) chairman Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy, A K Antony and Rajesh Pilot, felt that Pawar's confidant Lok Sabha member Praful Patel and MLA Satish Chaturvedi were ``guilty''.Both have since been issued show cause notices after which Chaturvedi has been suspended from the party's primary membership for six years and Patel asked to appear before the inquiry committee after he said he wasn't consulted before the action was taken against him.But it is the Deshmukh factor which can upset the MPCC cart. He had hardly spent any time in the PCC chief's post, barely a year, and he was applauded for ``good work'' in the Lok Sabha elections which sent the maximum number ofCongress members to the Lok Sabha from any state.But now things have changed rapidly and the Pawar camp is very unhappy. Deshmukh said he was given a ``fond farewell'' by Sonia but that seems to have only added insult to injury. ``I thanked her for giving me cooperation in doing my job. And, she told me that there was nothing personal in removing me. She said I had done good work in building up the organisation in Maharashtra.``There were no aspersions against me or my work. Since I was the captain of the ship, I had to take responsibility. Soniaji said accepting my resignation doesn't affect my credibility,'' Deshmukh added.Most of this is just for the record and the undercurrent here is important.There is a definite sense of hostility in the Pawar camp against the pro-Sonia group in the Congress. Most of Pawar's men have no idea why things got so hot after their leader had apparently taken responsibility for what happened and seemed to pacify the Congress president.When asked why things gotso serious, Deshmukh said: ``Because the Congress president took it seriously.'' That, in essence, sums up the Pawar camp's dilemma. Pawar has a reputation for tolerance but this could be stretched in the coming days.Pressure is mounting on Sonia to suspend Praful Patel too from the party's primary membership after chucked off Chaturvedi. The logic here is that Sonia can hardly stop at Chaturvedi and must send a similar message among party MPs that she means business. Should Patel be suspended, it will be another blow to Pawar who has publicly defended the MP from Bhandara.In any case, Maharashtra looks set to occupy Sonia's mind for at least a while.
