Adarsh Scam: Congress ponders Ashok Chavan’s successor in Maharashtra

NEW DELHI - With Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan’s putting in his papers before the Congress leadership after his relatives’ names figured in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, the Congress Parliament Committee is faced with a new challenge to find out someone who can replace him without affecting the political tug of war in Maharashtra.

Members of the Committee are presently holding a meeting at Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s residence to take a decision on who should take charge as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister A K Antony, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Prithviraj Chavan, Ahmed Patel were present in the meeting here on Monday evening till last reports were received.

According to sources, the names of Prithviraj Chavan, and Radhakrishnan Vikhe Patil are doing rounds for the Chief Minister’s post.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister A K Antony has recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe to fix responsibility of any alleged officials related to Armed Forces and Defence estates in the Adarsh Housing Scam.

He also asked the CBI to look into the circumstances under which a ‘No Objection Certificate’ had been issued to the Adarsh Housing Society to construct the 31-storey building on a piece of land, which was in the “de facto” possession of the Army.

The probe agency will also investigate into the commitments made for allotment of flats in the 104-apartment society for Kargil widows and martyrs’ families.

The scam came to light after Western Naval Commander Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin shot off a letter to the Army headquarters and the Defence Ministry seeking action against the building for posing a security threat to military installations. (ANI)