Milind Deora demands legislative debate on Adarsh scam report

Toughens stand on the report, presses for stern action against the guilty

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi’s man Friday and Union minister of state for communications, Milind Deora, on Sunday demanded the judicial commission's report on Adarsh scam should be debated in the state legislature, putting Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in a fix. Deora also pressed for stern action against the guilty. “Truth should come out,” he said.

The 37-year-old Congress member of Parliament from south Mumbai, who is emerging as a new power centre in the party, advised the Chavan-led government to take the opposition parties on board. He said this is necessary because members of almost all political parties are involved in the Adarsh scam.

This is the second time in a span of a week that Deora is criticising the Chavan-led government. On December 25, he had tweeted: “If the Adarsh report raises questions we should investigate (agnostic of party or bureaucracy), answer them and not be hush.” Deora's views were endorsed by Rahul Gandhi who on December 27 distanced himself from the state government's decision to reject the 670-page judicial commission's report on the scam.

Deora's demand for a legislative debate comes close on the heels of a demand by Eknath Khadse, Bharatiya Janata Party’s leader of opposition in the state Assembly, for a special session of the legislature to decide the fate of the report.

On the other hand, a Shiv Sena leader said Rahul Gandhi should direct Prithviraj Chavan to clear the prosecution of his predecessor Ashok Chavan by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). “Besides, Rahul should also ask Chavan to lodge an FIR against politicians and bureaucrats named in the judicial commission's report. The state government should launch a CID inquiry into the benami transactions by which flats are occupied in Adarsh society,'' he added.

In April last year, Deora in his tweet had blamed the Chavan government for slow decision-making delaying key projects.

“Mumbai's Aquarium and Zoo revamp further delayed. No progress on Girni Kamgar issue and Sewri-Nhava Sea Link. Severe decision deficit in Maharashtra,” he noted.