Adarsh scam an unhappy episode: Prithviraj Chavan

Says it was a difficult decision to reject the judicial commission's report in the issue

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday admitted the Adarsh Society housing scam was an “unhappy episode”, adding it was a difficult decision to reject the report of a judicial commission in this regard.

Chavan, who returned from a two-week winter session in Nagpur this morning, said it was a cabinet decision, taken after discussing the findings of a report with senior ministers and party leaders. He, however, declined to comment whether the decision was taken under political pressure.

He clarified he was misquoted that the decision to reject the commission’s report was taken in the larger public interest. “I had said that the cabinet always took decisions in the public interest, but I had not said it in the context of the Adarsh issue,” he said.

He added Opposition parties, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), would make all efforts to exploit the issue. Narendra Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, would certainly take on the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government on this issue during his address at the party's MahaGarjana rally here on Sunday, Chavan said.

On whether it an attempt to save former chief minister Ashok Chavan, who was among the 13 against whom the Central Bureau of Investigation had filed charge sheets in the Adarsh scam, the chief minister declined to comment. He, however, said the names of practically all major political parties, including the Congress, the NCP, the BJP and the Shiv Sena, figured in the Adarsh episode.

Various Congress leaders admitted it would be difficult for the party to defend the rejection of the judicial commission’s report. In the run-up to the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, the party would be targeted and would have to rework its campaign strategy to counter the opposition’s attack, they added. BJP has already declared it will go to every village, exposing the Congress-led government on the Adarsh scam report.

Meanwhile, Chavan played down the impact of Modi and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Maharashtra. He said though Modi had organising rallies in a well planned manner across the country, in Maharashtra he might not be able to adversely impact the electoral prospects of the Congress-NCP alliance. He dared Modi to speak on key issues, including the economy, foreign affairs, Article 370 and Ram Mandir.

He said in the Lok Sabha polls, AAP wouldn’t be able to fare as well as it had in Delhi. “It was a protest vote in Delhi,” he added.

On the Congress’s rout in four state Assembly elections, he said it was quite shocking. A detailed analysis on the issue was underway, he added.