Act 3 in Vilasrao-Bollywood saga

Act 3 in Vilasrao-Bollywood saga

Union minister for science and technology Vilasrao Deshmukh’s love for Bollywood appears to have always landed him in trouble. Deshmukh, who held two terms in the state as chief minister, was forced to quit because of his nexus with Bollywood. The big question Congress leaders are asking is: Will Deshmukh survive this third onslaught from Bollywood? Or will the party high command Sonia Gandhi ask him to resign? The Supreme Court feels Deshmukh authorised special concessions in the allocation of 20 acres of land to film director Subash Ghai in Mumbai, implying that Deshmukh favoured Ghai because of their personal rapport. This charge has already been denied by Deshmukh. But after the court verdict, he has refrained from commenting on the developments. A senior MLA said, “Every time, some issue related to Bollywood pops up and he lands in trouble. It has happened in the past.” Deshmukh, who served as chief minister of Maharashtra for two terms — between 1999-2003 and 2004-2008 — lost his post both times because of his association with Bollywood. In 2003, at the grand release of his second son Ritesh Deshmukh’s film Tujhe Meri Kasam, Amitabh Bachchan was the chief guest, a fact that worked against Deshmukh. Some made an issue of the minister playing an active role in the film launch function, causing him to lose his post. In 2004, Deshmukh was again chosen as chief minister for a second tenure. In 2008, after the 26/11 attacks, there was public pressure building up against the government. Initially, the Centre sought the resignation of Union home minister Shivraj Patil to pacify voices railing against the Congress coalition at the Centre and state. However, images of Deshmukh accompanied by film director Ram Gopal Varma walking out of the terror-hit Taj Hotel became reason enough for Deshmukh’s resignation to be sought. Notwithstanding the backroom politics that helped build up the campaign against him post-26/11, the Centre cited Deshmukh’s Bollywood connections to dislodge him from the post.