Serious matter if Adarsh land belongs to defence: Pawar

In his first elaborate remarks on the Adarsh Housing scam in Mumbai that has almost claimed the Chief Ministerial chair of Ashok Chavan, NCP chief Sharad Pawar today said "it is a serious issue if the Adarsh land belongs to the military."

"If the flats were built on the state government land, then there is no problem as the Chief Minister has rights to (allow) that. But if it is the military land, then it is a serious matter," Pawar told reporters here.

NCP takes the issue seriously, the Union Agriculture Minister, who was on a tour of his parliamentary constituency Madha, said.

"Our party will keep a close watch on it (Adarsh scam). If the Chief Minister is replaced by Congress party over the issue, it will not affect NCP," Pawar said.

NCP ministers will continue in the same portfolios even if the CM is changed, Pawar said.

Claiming that his party is not interested in claiming power in Kalyan-Dombivli civic body where polls were held on Sunday, Pawar said NCP will, however, have an alliance with Congress in Kolhapur civic body and claim the mayorship.

"We contested against Congress in Kolhapur but have made up our mind to have a tie-up with it there," he said.