In Maharashtra it is the Maratha dominance in the state politics that decides the fortunes or misfortunes of the CM. To the voters there is no difference between the NCP and the Congress, they share the same political ethos and also the manner of making political decisions. In fact the NCP has been formed only on the foreign origins of Sonia Gandhi the Congress chairman. It is a fact that the real leader of Maharashtra's politics is Sharad Pawar and as long as he is there the political constituency of the Maratha power base is intact. It is immaterial which ever party comes to power, the CM will be decided by the NCP. Mr Deshmukh has no opposition in this sense.
