SOLAPUR, Oct 23: Former MLA and Congress city unit president Prakash Yelgulwar has warned party rebel Ranjit Deshmukh to stop activities against the newly-elected Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, else party activists would show him his place.Talking to Express Newsline here on Saturday, Yelgulwar came down heavily on Ranjit Deshmukh and alleged that a person who had cultivated anti-party activities behind curtains and taken all-out efforts to give candidature to hidden rebels all over the State, should not make tall claims about loyalty.He termed Deshmukh's claim on the chief ministership as a ``Millennium joke'' and said that he should introspect himself about the support he had from Vidharba region. Deshmukh was isolated on the issue, he said. He added that at a time when the Congress party had not gained absolute majority and had made the government with support of other political parties, Ranjit had tried to pressurise the party instead of extending a helping hand.Yelgulwar warned him to shun the practice or else party workers would not remain silent over the issue.Yelgulwar who was the Congress MLA from South Solapur city constituency has lost the election second time in a row and he was restless since then to occupy some place in the politics. Known as a staunch follower of Congress bigwig Shankarrao Chavan as well as MP Sushilkumar Shinde, Yelgulwar is leaving no store unturned to grab the MLA seat in the near future. In the light of this, his statement against Deshmukh is being observed as a bid to make the new chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh happy. Meanwhile, the Congress leaders who were unhappy with the omission of MLA Anandrao Devakate in the ministry, now are set to dash to Mumbai to remain present on the occasion of the swearing-in-ceremony of the second batch of ministers, which may possibly take place on October 29.After the green signal shown by Shankarrao Chavan and Sushilkumar Shinde, Devakate is likely to get a place in the ministry to keep the balance of power between the NCP and the Congress in the district. Besides he is the seniormost MLA in the Atate who always remained loyal to the party in crucial times, it is said.
