Errant schoolboy Vilasrao

Mumbai Mirror carries the rather amusing headline, "Get me Vilasrao’s report card: Sonia." The newspaper actually goes on to mark Vilasrao Deshmukh, and concludes that he has failed.

Deshmukh's government has unquestionably been found wanting, but one of the criticicms against him seems a bit unfair. The report says:

"It is unimaginable that Deshmukh has not stirred out of Varsha [the chief minister's residence]. He is just addressing press conferences," an AICC functionary said. What has particularly upset Sonia is that when Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Prabha Rau, who does not have age on her side, managed to tour Konkan, Deshmukh stayed put in Mumbai.

Had Deshmukh actually gone touring, he would have been lambasted for gratuitously touring the state when he should have been in Mumbai coordinating relief operations. There are plenty of valid reasons to criticise Deshmukh for the way his government has performed in the last week. But this one seems politically motivated. What is a disaster for some, after all, is an opportunity for others.