A decision by the Congress party on Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's resignation in the wake of an embarrassing housing scam is expected to take some more time.
"Yesterday in the night I had said that we require more time to study the documents and report to the Congress President. That position continues," Pranab Mukherjee, head of the two-member committee including Defence Minister A K Antony, told reporters after a meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
The senior party leader said that in today's meeting with Gandhi, the Maharashtra issue was not discussed. The discussions related to tomorrow's AICC meeting, he said.
Another senior party leader Ahmed Patel was also present at the meeting with Gandhi besides Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, whose ministry's clearance was also an issue in the matter.
The embattled Chief Minister, who was in the capital after his meeting with Gandhi on Saturday, left for Mumbai early this morning.
Talk in the political circles was that Chavan had stayed put in the capital to meet Mukherjee who returned here late last evening from West Bengal.
Chavan had offered to resign on Saturday during a meeting with Gandhi in connection with the controversial Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society which was supposedly meant for widows and veterans of the Kargil war.
On his return from Kolkata, Mukherjee had a meeting with Antony last night and had said that he would require some more time to go through the documents related to the alleged scam.
There were reports that more Congress and NCP leaders including three former Maharashtra chief ministers -- Union Heavy Industry Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and current Revenue Minister Narayan Rane -- and Maharashtra minister Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, had links with the controversial upscale project.
Deshmukh, Rane and Pawar denied the allegations of any links, saying they had not recommended any cases for allotment of flats in the 31-storey housing complex which stands on the land supposed to be meant for Kargil war heroes and widows while Shinde accused the media of making a hue and cry over the issue.
Questions were also being raised in the chief minister's camp as how action can be taken against Chavan on the Adarsh issue when other Congress leaders from Maharashtra were also allegedly involved.
Related reports:
Pranab, Antony meet Sonia, discuss Chavan's fate
Congress President Sonia Gandhi today held consultations with senior party leaders on the fate of Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan who has been embroiled in a upscale housing society scam in Mumbai.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony and senior party leader Ahmed Patel met Gandhi here and are understood to have discussed the matter.
The meeting took place even as the embattled Chief Minister left for Mumbai early this morning.
Talk in the political circles was that Chavan had stayed put in the capital to meet Mukherjee who returned here late last evening from West Bengal.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, whose ministry's clearance was also an issue in the matter, also joined the meeting. The parleys come a day ahead of the AICC meeting here.
Chavan had offered to resign on Saturday during a meeting with Gandhi in connection with the controversial Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society which was supposedly meant for widows and veterans of the Kargil war.
Gandhi had asked Mukherjee and Antony, who is also incharge of party affairs in Maharashtra, to look into the matter and submit a report.
On his return from Kolkata, Mukherjee had a meeting with Antony last night and had said that he would require some more time to go through the documents related to the alleged scam.
"I will require more time to go through the papers and, therefore, it would not be possible for me or Mr Antony to say anything right now," Mukherjee had said.
There were reports that more Congress and NCP leaders including three former Maharashtra chief ministers -- Union Heavy Industry Minister Vilasrao
Deshmukh, Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and current Revenue Minister Narayan Rane -- and Maharashtra minister Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, had links with the controversial upscale project.
Deshmukh, Rane and Pawar denied the allegations of any links, saying they had not recommended any cases for allotment of flats in the 31-storey housing complex which stands on the land supposed to be meant for Kargil war heroes and widows while Shinde accused the media of making a hue and cry over the issue.
Questions were also being raised in the chief minister's camp as how action can be taken against Chavan on the Adarsh issue when other Congress leaders from Maharashtra were also allegedly involved.
Maha oppn leaders meet gov, ask for Chavan's ouster
Ask for criminal proceedings against scam-tainted ministers and bureaucrats
Leaders of key opposition parties in Maharashtra today met governor K Sankaranarayanan here, seeking dismissal of the Ashok Chavan government over the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam.
The delegation included Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena leaders and was led by opposition leader in state assembly Eknath Khadse. "We demanded immediate sacking of the Chavan ministry and pointed out to the governor that the image of the state government and that of the state has taken a beating due to the blatant corruption of those involved in the scam," senior Sena leader Diwakar Raote said.
Those who met the governor included BJP leader Vinod Tawde and Sena leaders Subhash Desai and Deepak Sawant. The delegation asked the governor to initiate criminal proceedings against ministers and bureaucrats whose names figure in the scam.
A controversy has erupted over how Adarsh Housing Society, originally meant to be a six-storey structure to house Kargil war heroes and widows, got converted into a 31-storey tower through collusion of bureaucrats, politicians and top defence officers.
