In one fell swoop the Congress excised those accused of corruption from within its ranks - amidst much arm-twisting by the BJP-led opposition.

Hours before the winter session of Parliament, the party announced the resignation of Ashok Chavan as Mahrashtra chief minister and of Suresh Kalmadi as the Cong parliamentary party secretary. Chavan's relatives  were named in the Adarsh Housing Society scam and Kalmadi had been accused of graft even before the Games began.

The Congress, having faced a dogged opposition stalling Parl proceedings in the last session over price-rise, seems to have learnt its lesson well. With the BJP-led opposition daring the government to take decisive action or face disruptions in both houses, the party had to make visble attempts at addressing corruption charges leveled at its leaders.

No safehouse for Chavan as Sonia accepts resignation offer

The limbo ended all too soon, and bitterly for Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan. On Tuesday morning, Chavan was informed of the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's decision to accept his resignation offer which followed claims of his relatives' involvement in the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai.

"Pending enquiry, his (Chavan's) offer of resignation has been accepted. He has been asked to tender his resignation to governor (K Sankaranarayanan)," Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said in a brief statement.

He has since submitted his resignation to the governor.

The Congress decision came hours before the winter session of Parliament was set to commence in which the opposition had threatened to vociferously raise the issue.

51-year-old Chavan had on October 30 offered to resign during a meeting with Gandhi after it emerged that three of his relatives were members of the housing society in upmarket Colaba.

The move is being widely read as a checkmate to the BJP-led opposition at the centre which had declared that it would not allow a normal functioning of Parliament if "strong action" was not taken in the matter.

Unsurprisingly, Gandhi did not wait for two senior UPA ministers - finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and defence minister A K Antony - to report on the scam in which defence authorities are also believed to be involved.

She had earlier asked the two senior leaders to submit their report immediately after the scam surfaced following newspaper reports.

The directive to Chavan went minutes after US President Barack Obama left India after concluding a 3-day visit. It was Chavan, who had received Obama when he landed in Mumbai on Saturday.

Kalmadi resignation as Cong parliamentary party secretary accepted as well

Congress today axed Suresh Kalmadi as secretary of its Parliamentary Party, seeking to distance itself from the Organising Committee Chairman of the Commonwealth Games in the wake of allegations of corruption.

"Suresh Kalmadi's resignation as Secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) has been accepted with immediate effect," AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said.

Party sources said Kalmadi had been asked to put in his papers as CPP Secretary earlier. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson of the CPP.

The decision by Gandhi came on the opening day of the Winter Session of Parliament in which opposition had threatened to raise the issue of alleged corruption in the Games-related projects.

Kalmadi, a Congress member of Lok Sabha from Pune, was the Chairman of Organising Committee of the sporting event which concluded last month.

Soon after the completion of the Games, Congress had left Kalmadi to fend for himself declining to give a clean chit to him or others associated with organisation of the Games.

Sports Minister M S Gill, Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit were among others involved in the preparations for the Games.

Kalmadi has been under pressure from opposition parties to resign as Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee after the corruption allegations erupted, but he had persistently refused to step down.

Soon after the completion of the Games last month, Congress had left Kalmadi to fend for himself declining to give a clean chit to him or others associated with organisation of the Commonwealth Games.

The party decision on the two leaders comes a week after the AICC session in New Delhi, which came under severe criticism from other political parties and media that there was no mention about scams involving top leaders of the Congress.

Congress apparently did not want any further embarrassment with Opposition parties giving notice that they would rake up all issues relating to scams in Parliament.

(With inputs from PTI)