Prithviraj Chavan was party to corruption in Maharashtra: BJP

Party leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy says BJP is heading for a landslide victory in the assembly poll

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The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday alleged that Maharashtra's former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan was party to corruption and the Congress-NCP government was hand in gloves. Besides, Chavan has made an admission of guilt and corruption and he ran the corrupt government, the BJP said.

BJP general secretary in charge of Maharashtra Rajiv Pratap Rudy was referring to a scathing interview given by Chavan to a national daily.

Chavan said, ''I must say that Adarsh brought under the scanner Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushil Shinde and Ashok Chavan — the top Congress leadership in the state. If I had taken action against them, the party would have been decimated in Maharashtra. We could not shed them. If I had sent them to jail, it would have hit the party organisation — this was a major response. The party would have split — nobody articulated that openly then. Neither could I.''

Rudy alleged that Chavan by his own admission has protected the corrupt leaders from the Congress party and he was accomplice to the crime committed in the state.

On the Rs 70,000 crore irrigation scam, Chavan in an interview said '' I did not order a police inquiry, I did not ask for a judicial commission report .Short of sacking Ajit Pawar, I did everything. But sacking him would have brought down the government.'' Rudy claimed that Chavan was acting holier than thou. ''The allegation levelled by our party president Amit Shah that there was a scam of Rs 11.88 lakh crore during the 15 year rule of the Congress-NCP government has been now proved by Chavan,'' he said.

Further, Rudy said there was no need to have further certificate. ''It is clear that Congress has lost grounds and accepted its defeat in the state assembly poll. Congress party is severely battered. By Chavan's own admission it is now clear that BJP is heading for a landslide victory, full majority in Maharashtra,'' he noted.

Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Sachin Sawant told Business Standard '' I cannot comment in what context Chavan spoke. Already two inquiries were conducted in the Adarsh case. The legal process has been completed.

The state government had accepted all the recommendations made by the judicial commission which probed Adarsh case. ''As far as irrigation scam is concerned, Sawant said the special investigation team had probed it. ''For an alliance government stability was the priority,'' he added.

On the blistering attack from BJP's former ally Shiv Sena terming it as number one, Rudy said even Shiv Sena has accepted its defeat and therefore indulged in making such allegations. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already said party respects Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and will not make any adverse comment against him. BJP's only objective is to defeat Congress and NCP.

Rudy clarified that BJP made all efforts to survive its alliance with Shiv Sena.

On party's chief ministerial choice, Rudy said BJP contested the assembly poll under the united leadership. "There are capable leaders and the party will take a decision on chief minister's candidate after the election," he added.