Mumbai, Nov. 1: After a three-day visit to Delhi, following the Adarsh Housing Society scam, the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Ashok Chavan, on Monday resumed work at his office. He held meetings with the state home minister and finance minister.
The CM also made it a point to speak to the media in an unofficial meeting, where he refused to divulge much information about what happened during his stay in the capital.
Mr Chavan said that he will be going back to Delhi for the AICC meet on Tuesday. He said, “There won’t be any Cabinet meeting this week because of Diwali and the same will be held on November 10.”
When asked about the situation in the Capital, the CM said that he has no comments to make. Speaking about his meeting with the party president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Mr Chavan said, “She is my party president. I am not supposed to disclose what transpired in the meeting. I have no comments about the things reported in the media. I have no idea about what Vilasrao Deshmukh said about the scam on Monday. I will not blame anyone.”
The UPA government is set to turn the spotlight on the former NDA government in the Adarsh Society controversy since the land use pattern of the plot — on which builders built the 31-storey Adarsh tower — could have been altered in 1999-2000 when the NDA government was in power.
The move by the UPA government is being seen as an attempt to put the BJP-led Opposition on the backfoot, given that the Winter Session of Parliament is just days away.
Blame game has begun in the Congress on the Adarsh Housing scam. Mr Chavan is using his media management skill to hit his detractors in the Congress and NCP, the Union heavy industries minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh is perhaps the first Congress leader to hit back at Mr Chavan openly.
On Monday, Mr Deshmukh revealed that it was Mr Chavan as the then revenue minister who asked the controversial housing society involved in a scam in Mumbai “to change the bylaws to include civilians in it”.
Denying any role in the scam, Mr Deshmukh, who as CM had signed the “letter of intent and not the final order”, ruled out resignation from the Centre.