Adarsh issue will be resolved soon: Sonia Gandhi

Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the Adarsh Housing scam issue would be resolved soon, and urged media to also highlight corruption in states ruled by other parties.

"We have serious and big challenges before us, but we are all determined to be together and win," Gandhi said on being asked about future challenges.

"I think the point has been missed about the meeting that was held yesterday. The main topics discussed were the Lokpal and inflation. The discussion in the meeting centered on how the chief ministers of Congress-governed states can tackle these problems," Gandhi said about the meeting between Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and chief ministers of 12 states.

On the Adarsh scam inquiry report, which was rejected by the Maharashtra Cabinet, Gandhi said, "It has been discussed yesterday, and it will be resolved very soon,"

"I request the media to also look at other states governed by other parties. There is corruption in their states also, and in particular, done by some of their ministers. I do want the media to look at our states and point our mistakes, but it should also look at other states," she added.

The Adarsh Housing Society is a cooperative society in Mumbai. The origins of the scam go back to February 2002 when a request was made to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to allot land in the heart of Mumbai for the construction of a housing complex for "the welfare of serving and retired personnel of the Defence Services".

Over a period of ten years, top politicians, bureaucrats and military officers proceeded to bend several rules and perpetrate various acts of omission and commission in order to have the building constructed and then get themselves allotted flats on this premier property at artificially lowered prices.

As the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to the President of India in 2011 put it, "The episode of Adarsh Co-operative Housing Society reveals how a group of select officials, placed in key posts, could subvert rules and regulations in order to grab prime government land- a public property- for personal benefit."

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are in the process of investigating allegations that three former chief ministers, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan of the state of Maharashtra were also involved in the scam.

The Adarsh society high-rise was constructed in the Colaba locality of Mumbai, which is considered a sensitive coastal area by the Indian Defence forces and houses various Indian Defense establishments.

The society is also alleged to have violated the Indian environment ministry rules.