Cong working on new strategy in Maha? RAUT APPOINTED SENA RS LEADER

The Congress is closely watching developments in Maharashtra after realising that its current team, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and PCC president Manikrao Thakre, will not be able to fight the political challenge on their own.

If insiders are to be believed, the central leadership has already started working on an alternative strategy to ensure the party’s supremacy in this premier state to remain

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, led by Raj Thackeray, could get political mileage from the anti- incumbency factor

intact. If the party’s secondrung leaders are confined to their own district and thus lacking vision and appeal across the state, the AICC is not comfortable with Maharashtra minister Narayan Rane.

Mr Chavan’s clean image is neither helping the party nor improving the quality of governance. He is not pro- active in meeting people, as per the reports reaching here.

Union minister of state for communication and IT Milind Deora has rued that decision deficit in the Maharashtra government led to delayed execution of projects in the state.

A senior NCP leader con- ceded that anti- incumbency is gaining against the Congress- NCP combine if one studies the results of the local body elections carefully. He observed that the second- rung leaders in the NCP are not different from the Congress.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, led by Raj Thackeray, could get political mileage from the anti- incumbency factor if the Congress- NCP combine fails to address the real issue of the people — bijli, paani, sadak — effectively, he said. Sanjay Raut is the new leader of the Shiv Sena in the Rajya Sabha in place of former Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Joshi whose term in the Upper House expired early this month. The appointment of Mr Raut was made by the party’s executive president Uddhav Thackerey.