The good electoral performance
of the UPA in Vidarbha could well throw up a problem of plenty when it comes to claimants for ministerial
berths in the new government which is to be led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh again.
AICC general secretary and CWC member Mukul Wasnik, who has won from Ramtek, Vilas Muttemwar, who won Nagpur seat for the fourth consecutive time and his seventh term in the Lok Sabha, NCP leader Praful Patel, with a huge win from Bhandara-Gondia after his two failed attempts, are the three in the race for the ministerial pie.
The Muttemwar camp is nursing hopes that their leader would this time be rewarded with a Cabinet post. Last time he had the USP of winning the only seat for the party in the region. His repeat performance and victory in the saffron heartland that houses the RSS headquarters may not go unnoticed, they hope. Moreover, though he is into a seventh term in Parliament the best position he could get was a minister of state with an independent charge (for renewable energy).
He could run into competition in the form of Mukul Wasnik who has won from a seat in the same district. But both can take hope.