New Delhi: The name of Himanta Biswa Sarma is doing the rounds as successor of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. Congress leadership has been under pressure to replace Gogoi for long time as rebellion is mounting in the state unit, in the wake of the poor show of Congress in the Lok Sabha polls. Since there are no early elections in the state, the leadership views that if a change has to take place, it should be done now so that there is enough time for the new leadership in the state to prepare and perform in the assembly elections.
As far as Haryana is concerned, Congress may not like to discuss the apple cart and allow Bhupinder Singh Hooda to continue as the chief minister. However, there is intense rebellion within and the Congress top brass is considering coming up with a younger party face for the next election.
In Maharashtra, it’s almost certain that former Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde will take over from Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. Shinde is seen to have a positive image among the rural areas. He is the party’s Dalit face but the only issue that is likely to go against him is that he had lost in the recent Lok Sabha elections. For one, Chief Minister Chavan did not enjoy the support of NCP.
Sonia Gandhi’s trusted men A K Antony and Ghulam Nabi Azad would be observers for the change-over of chief ministers. The names of state Agriculture Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and state Revenue Minister Bala Saheb Thorat are also doing the rounds.