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Speculation rife on Manohar Joshi's exit

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Bombay

Uneasy indeed is the head that wears the Maharashtra chief minister's crown.

Manohar Joshi, whose political fate has been the topic of much discussion in Maharashtra, ever since the Shiv Sena was routed in the general election, virtually admitted that he may not last long in his post when he told the media on Tuesday that he will be in the seat as long as Sena chief Bal Thackeray wanted him to.

Though no one knows who will succeed Joshi in case of a change at the top, rumours are rife that Revenue Minister Narayan Rane is the man most likely to occupy the coveted post.

When Rediff On The NeT spoke to Rane recently about his chances in the race, he had replied diplomatically, "In politics one needs to have patience." When contacted this time round, Rane said he was a loyal soldier of Bal Thackeray and would follow his instructions.

A cabinet reshuffle has been scheduled for Saturday, details of which will be announced on Thursday. It is expected that at least six new ministers will be inducted. Two senior ministers are likely to be dropped in order to strengthen the Sena at the ground level in Maharashtra, in preparation for the assembly election due two years hence.

Prominient among those who are tipped to be inducted into the ministry are Dalit poet Namdeo Dhasal, Shishir Shinde who rose to fame when he dug up the Wankhede stadium in 1991 to stall an Indo-Pak match, and Bala Nandgaonkar, who defeated Chhagan Bhujbal, in the 1995 assembly election.

Dhasal's induction is meant to appease the neo-Dalit community which voted for the Republican Party of India-Congress combine in the general election.

One of Joshi's confidants told Rediff On The NeT, that there was no leader in the Sena to match the chief minister in stature. According to him, Bhujbal was the only one who came close, but even he had to leave the party on realising that there was no way he could match Joshi's appeal.

"One of the reasons why Bhujbal defected to the Congress was because of Joshi's proximity to Thackeray," says Yeshwant Padhyay, who first introduced the Sena supremo and the chief minister in the sixties. Joshi is also said to be a conduit between the Sena and leading businessmen in Bombay.

Gajanan Kirtikar, minister of state for home, dismissed the speculation that Joshi is on the way out. "The press has misquoted him," he said.

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