Zeenews Bureau
Mumbai, Dec 01: The race for Maharashtra chief ministership gained momentum on Monday with Vilasrao Deshmukh revealing that he had offered to step down as the state Chief Minister in wake of deadly terror attack in Mumbai.
Addressing the media, Deshmukh said that he had offered to resign at the Congress Working Committee meet last Saturday, also attended by party president Sonia Gandhi. However, no decision in this regard has been taken by the Congress High Command as yet.
Confirming the news, Union Defence Minister AK Antony said, "Consultations are going on and any decision in this regardd will be taken soon".
Antony, who is also the Congress party’s in-charge of Maharastra, informed that party president Sonia Gandhi has met him along with Home Minister P Chidambaram on the issue.
When quizzed by the reporters, Antony said that any decision might be taken by this evening or tomorrow morning.
The Congress leadership is believed to be considering the names of few candidates, who are likely to replace Deshmukh as the new CM.
Meanwhile, defending his government from the growing criticism over the terror attack, Deshmukh announced several measures aimed at containing terrorism in future.
He said that a State Security Council will be set up soon to counter terrorism. The state government will also issue smart cards to fishermen, he added.
Among other steps, the state government will also set up four new police stations for better monitoring and handling of such issues.
Deshmukh further said that his government has placed fresh orders for speedboats for efficient patrolling of the state’s coastal areas.
Deshmukh’s revelation that he had offered to step down as CM came shortly after RR Patil quit as the state’s Deputy Chief Minister, owing moral responsibility for the Mumbai terror attack.
Since then political pressure from within the Congress party has increased manifolds on Deshmukh to step down.
A beleaguered Deshmukh landed himself in a fresh controversy yesterday as he visited the terror-hit Taj Mahal hotel along with film producer Ram Gopal Varma and his actor son Reitesh.
The issue was raised at the all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last night which was also attended by Sonia Gandhi with some parties criticising the CM for his "casual" attitude.
Deshmukh recently completed four years in office. The names of Union Ministers Prithviraj Chavan and Sushil Kumar Shinde are doing the rounds to replace him and sources say a decision on the successor's name was delaying Deshmukh's resignation.
A section of Congress leaders say that strong steps are needed to ensure that the party meant business when it comes to issues of the country's security.
Sources also say that NCP leader Shard Pawar is not comfortable with Prithviraj Chavan replacing Deshmukh as the next CM.