Opposition seeks CM Prithviraj Chavan's resignation over Adarsh report rejection

Stepping up its attack on Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan over rejection of judicial commission report on Adarsh Society scam, the Opposition combine of BJP and Shiv Sena today accused Chavan of "shielding" senior politicians indicted by the panel and sought his resignation on moral grounds.

Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Eknath Khadse demanded convening of a special session of state legislature to debate the report which has indicted four former Congress chief ministers, including current Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.

"If the government does not accept our demands then we will take our protests to streets and to Parliament," Khadse said.

His counterpart in the Legislative Council Vinod Tawde said the Opposition would accept nothing less than the Chief Minister's resignation.

Slamming the ruling Congress-NCP coalition for doing a mere "lip service" to the cause of corruption, Shiv Sena said former chief minister Ashok Chavan should be prosecuted in the case.

"If they (Cong-NCP) are really serious about corruption, they should clear the hurdle for CBI to prosecute Ashok Chavan who has been indicted by the commission," said Shiv Sena Group Leader in Legislative Assembly Subhash Desai.

Desai said Prithviraj Chavan's clean image has taken a beating as he is "shielding" those indicted by the panel in its report. "The Chief Minister should resign on moral grounds," he said.

The rejection of Adarsh probe commission report by the state Cabinet headed by Chavan has caused a major controversy.

The development prompted Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to publicly rebuke the decision of the government.

Rahul yesterday said the state government should reconsider the rejection of the report, causing huge embarrassment to Chavan.