Rane walks tightrope as Cong likely to make Thakre PCC chief

Having made up its mind to have Deshmukh lead the party in the next Assembly and Parliamentary elections, the high command is determined to put an end to the internecine feud in the state unit. Party chief Sonia Gandhi wants an “organisation man” to work in coordination with the Government and Thakre, with his vast experience in both organisational work and administration, meets the requisite criteria, said sources.

Thakre has also been in touch with AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi following up on the initiatives to help Kalawati, the widow from a village in Yavatmal district in Vidarbha who shot into the limelight after Rahul mentioned her case in his trust vote speech in the Lok Sabha on July 22.

Thakre, in his capacity as Yavatmal DCC chief, was instrumental in facilitating Rahul’s visit to Kalawati’s village and has been updating the AICC general secretary about relief and assistance provided to her by both the party and private organisations. Since Rahul’s visit to her house, the DCC was involved in getting her plot regularised, BPL card issued and a house allotted under a government scheme.

The move to appoint a new PCC chief comes even as Rane, who had earlier declined the offer of Campaign Committee chairman or PCC chief, desperately awaits a call from the Congress president’s office inviting him to Delhi for talks. Last month, he had offered to quit the state Cabinet and the party president is yet to take a call on that.

“Now, he does not have much leeway. He either takes the post of Campaign Committee chairman or quits the Government and goes his way,” said a senior AICC office bearer from Maharashtra. Given the fact that Rane cannot go back to the Shiv Sena and the NCP cannot offer him anything better, the Revenue Minister may have a tough call to make.