Junior minister likely to replace tainted Chavan

New Delhi: Prithviraj Chavan, a junior minister in the Prime Minister's Office, has emerged as the candidate most likely to replace scam-tainted Ashok Chavan as the new Maharashtra chief minister.

Ashok Chavan handed in his resignation to Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi yesterday after he was asked to explain his role in the Mumbai Adarsh Society housing scam.

The society was supposed to build six floors of apartments to be given to army widows and Kargil War heroes. Instead, the society was allowed to build 31 floors, and top politicians, bureaucrats and ex-service chiefs ended up getting the apartments at a throwaway price.

Ashok Chavan was the Maharashtra revenue minister when the land was allotted, and he headed the state government when the society was issued its occupation certificate, despite blatant violations. Two close relatives of incumbent chief ministers are also among the beneficiaries.

However, Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said any final decision on Ashok Chavan's offer to quit would only be made after Federal Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A.K. Antony submitted their report on the Adarsh Society housing scam.

Gandhi asked the two seniormost ministers to look into the scam which has been a huge embarrassment to the party. The pair was expected to submit their report to Gandhi today.

Observers have predicted that Ashok Chavan's resignation will be accepted and the final decision about his successor will be made only after consultation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who was scheduled to return from a three-nation tour late last night.

Prithviraj Chavan, who is among a handful of leaders with dual responsibilities as a federal minister and a general secretary of the party, is considered to be close to party chief Gandhi and Prime Minister Singh.

Favourable situation

His clean image as an efficient administrator may tilt the balance in his favour, sources said.

The other two contenders for the Maharashtra CM's post — federal power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and the heavy industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh (both former Maharashtra chief ministers) — are thought to stand no chance due to their suspected involvement in the housing society scam.

Deshmukh was the chief minister when the Adarsh Society was issued a letter of intent by the Maharashtra government in 2001.

Shinde was the chief minister when the prime land in South Mumbai's posh Colaba area was allotted to the housing society in 2004. Emerging from Gandhi's 10 Janpath bungalow, Ashok said that he had offered to resign.

"Regarding the Mumbai scam, I have given the information to Sonia Gandhi... I have told her the truth. What role we play in it has all been put on the table. It is the government's land," he said.

"CBI inquiry is also welcome... The truth should be out. Everyone should know all the facts. I have offered to tender my resignation, left it to the Congress President to take the final call."