Light-weight Bhosle is new MPCC chief

Bhosle stood down from his home constituency in favour of then party MLA Abhaysinh Raje Bhosale, a close Pawar confidante and toured the whole of Satara along with him and Pawar in a rare display of unity between the warring party factions.

Contrary to the popular opinion that he is a hard core Pawar detractor, Bhosale has never been part of the anti-Pawar cliques operating in Maharashtra, very rarely indulging in comments against Pawar.

His selection as the MPCC chief though is a clear signal from Sonia that she prefers to follow the IndiraGandhi line of disallowing the growth of regional satraps.

For while Bhosale might be far more acceptable to Pawar than a hard core detractor coming from the other quot;loyalistquot; camps, like Vilasrao Deshmukh for example, who was the frontrunner this time round, state affairs are not likely to be a cakewalk for Pawar.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha can no longer expect his diktat to be followed blindly in the State, though he might still retain the advantage of the fact that Bhosale is little known outside his native Satara or indeed in Western Maharashtra and has practically no political presence in large parts of Maharashtra.

Both Pawar and Bhosale are thus expected to have to make major concessions to each other in order to retain their hold and credibility respectively within the party organisation.

Meanwhile, Sonia has taken a soft line on the showcause notices to 10 MLAs saying their explanations were enough but they should be more careful in future.

It is a repeat of the balanceshe tried to strike in the first phase of the crackdown when she chose Praful Patel and Satish Chaturvedi from the pro and anti-Pawar camps respectively.

Reacting to the news of new MPCC chief, Pawar said, quot;the appointment is useful, helpful and will help in rebuilding the Congress at all levels in Maharashtra.quot; Sonia had told Pawar about Bhosle8217;s selection before the formal declaration thus reducing chances of dissent later.

Pawar also said the ten MLAs had done nothing wrong and no action was necessary against them, adding quot;a sympathetic approachquot; should be taken in the case of the eight MLAs alleged to have cross-voted on June 3.

All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra, Madhavrao Scindia wrote to the ten MLAs saying their explanations on the showcause notices were being accepted. quot;I have noted your explanations that you have signed the blank nomination papers in good faith as you had thought this was the normal practice8230; It is unfortunate that the blank form signedby you seems to have been utilised for the Independent candidate,quot; Scindia said.

quot;However, the All India Congress Committee is accepting your explanation regarding your bonafides,quot; he said.

Adding further, Scindia said, quot;At the same time, you will have to be more careful in the future otherwise it can lead to a lot of confusion and misunderstanding with serious consequences for you.quot;

The MLAs warned thus are: Shankarrao Jagtap, Sahebrao Baradkar, Dilip Valse Patil, R.R. Patil, Ashok Dhatrak, Kushal Bopche, Sanjay Deotale, Marotrao Kavase, Babasaheb Kupekar and Krishnarao Jadhav.