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OO RUEHAST RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHBI #0560/01 3361447
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 011447Z DEC 08
FM AMCONSUL MUMBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6778
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 8018
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 1755
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 1960
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 1942
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MUMBAI 000560 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ASEC IN
SUBJECT: MAHARASHTRA STATE LEADER RESIGNS, RECRIMINATIONS CONTINUE 
 
MUMBAI 00000560  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Citing the call of his "inner voice," the 
Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister, R.R. Patil of the 
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has resigned from the 
Maharashtra state government.  The press speculates that 
Congress Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh might be the next to 
go.  The search for accountability in the press and public has 
increased since the siege of the hotels ended, and, as the 
state's senior most leaders, Deshmukh and Patil are the easiest 
targets.  Congress contacts tell Congenoffs that there is 
tremendous pressure to act decisively, but the roster of 
capable, dynamic Congress politicians from Maharashtra is not 
long.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil the First To Go 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) A day after the resignation of Union Home Minister 
Shivraj Patil, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. 
Patil, of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was the first to 
tender his resignation.  After days of denying that there was 
any reason for him to resign, Patil told reporters, "I have gone 
by my conscience and decided to take this step."  (Note:  The 
NCP, led by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, broke away 
from the Congress Party in 1998, following Sonia Gandhi's 
assumption of the Congress presidency.  A regional party, the 
NCP is strongest is Maharashtra, where a NCP-Congress coalition 
government rules.  Patil is the highest ranking NCP official in 
the state government. End note.)  Patil likely offered his 
resignation at the behest of party leader Pawar.  Patil was 
criticized for his comments underplaying the severity of the 
attacks, saying "such minor things happen in big cities." 
 
 
 
Maharashtra CM Deshmukh Likely to Follow 
 
---------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has also 
offered to resign.  "I accept moral responsibility for the 
terror attacks and have offered to resign.  It is up to the 
Congress Working Committee to decide whether to accept my 
resignation," Deshmukh told reporters at a press conference in 
Mumbai on December 1.  He tendered his resignation to Congress 
Party President Sonia Gandhi on November 29.  The press has 
roundly criticized Deshmukh for his casual manner after the 
attacks, and for a widely publicized tour of the Taj and Oberoi 
hotels on November 30, for which he brought his actor son, and a 
noted director of Bollywood horror films.  (Deshmukh claims 
their participation was a "coincidence.")  Prithvi Raj Chavan, 
the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, Sushil 
Kumar Shinde, the Union Power Minister, and Ashok Chavan, the 
Cabinet Minister for Industries and Protocol, are all being 
touted as potential successors to Deshmukh. 
 
 
 
Congress Soul Searching~. 
 
------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Maharashtra state Congress Party spokesperson, Anant 
Gadgil, told Congenoffs that the terrorist attacks on Mumbai 
were a tragedy for India, and an "embarrassment" for the 
Congress party.  He said that Congress President Sonia Gandhi 
was "furious" at her security team, and acknowledged that the 
state and country were "not prepared" for these attacks.  Gadgil 
admitted that the Indian public was angry at its government 
officials.  He participated in the funeral procession of slain 
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, and 
heard bystanders hurl insults and taunts at politicians; at the 
funeral, people in the crowd were whispering, "you corrupt 
police are responsible for the death of one of your own." 
According to Gadgil, his contacts in Madhya Pradesh say that the 
Congress will now lose the Madhya Pradesh elections, which took 
place on November 27.  He also said these attacks will make it 
impossible for the Congress to hold elections earlier, in 
January or February, regardless of the outcome of the ongoing 
 
MUMBAI 00000560  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
state elections.  In Maharashtra, Congress party workers tell 
him that the Indian government must "act decisively" against 
Pakistan to regain credibility. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Gadgil told Congenoff that CM Deshmukh has offered to 
resign, but the Congress Working Committee (CWC) will decide 
whether or not to replace him after the visit of Indian 
President Prathiba Patil to Mumbai on December 1.  Gadgil had 
recommended that Deshmukh be replaced over a year ago, but 
Deshmukh's ability to raise funds from industrialists for the 
Congress' election war chest, and the lack of any better 
alternative, made dislodging him difficult.  He acknowledged 
that none of the proposed replacements are dynamic or strong 
leaders, and will not have the desired effect of restoring 
confidence in Congress leadership in Maharashtra. 
 
 
 
~And BJP Plans For More Politics 
 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Piyush Goyal, BJP national treasurer and advisor to BJP 
leader L.K. Advani, told Congenoffs Deshmukh would have to 
resign soon.  He called CM Deshmukh "lackluster and weak," and 
criticized the Congress for continuing to pander to "communal 
vote banks."  Goyal noted that Advani's comments in Mumbai 
immediately after the attacks were designed to rise above 
politics and inspire Indians to unite against terrorism. 
However, he asserted that the BJP would make an electoral issue 
of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, as the party has consistently 
derided the Congress for its "weak-kneed" response to India's 
security.  The BJP might be criticized for this, he 
acknowledged, but he believed that these attacks have only 
confirmed the BJP's position.  He added that when the Home 
Secretary briefed Advani at 7 pm on November 27, the Home 
Secretary admitted that the information he had was seven hours 
old. 
 
 
 
U.S.-India Law Enforcement Cooperation Praised 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Goyal told Congenoff that he and his family lost 
several friends in the attacks.  In response to the tragedy, he 
and some local industrialists have formed a non-partisan group 
to make security recommendations to the government, including 
the establishment of a federal investigative agency and the 
procurement of better weaponry for security forces.  Referring 
to articles about the arrival of the FBI's investigation team, 
he said that he hoped the police would have the "good sense" to 
welcome and cooperate with law enforcement experts from all over 
the world. Gadgil also praised the arrival of the FBI team, and 
offered to raise the issue at the political level if the local 
police refused cooperation. 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment:  The Congress Party nationally as well and its 
Maharashtra leadership continue to take heat from the public 
over their handling of the terrorist attacks.  Clearly, many 
aspects of the response were out of the hands of local leaders, 
but Mumbaikars are asking the Congress and NCP to show that they 
are listening, and that they will take security seriously; the 
casual manner and insensitive comments of Deshmukh and Patil 
will not help their case any.  Nevertheless, Deshmukh has 
managed to ride out almost a decade of dissatisfaction against 
his government, mainly because he is the least objectionable 
leader among a number of uninspiring alternatives.  He may 
survive just yet.  End Comment. 
FOLMSBEE