PM Manmohan Singh put the blame of the CVC fiasco squarely on Chavan, who was minister of state in the department of personnel and training when the selection of scam-accused PJ Thomas for the job was processed.
Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, the rare Congress leader with a supposedly squeaky-clean image, is losing sheen rather fast. Three months after he was chosen by the party high command as a ‘clean’ alternative to the Adarsh-tainted Ashok Chavan, the chief minister has already landed in three different controversies — the CVC issue, the Antrix-Devas deal, and the non-disclosure of the flat at Wadala during Rajya Sabha nominations.
Prime minister (PM) Manmohan Singh on Tuesday put the blame of the CVC fiasco squarely on Chavan, who was minister of state in the department of personnel and training (DoPT) when the selection of scam-accused PJ Thomas for the job was processed.
“It is a major loss of face for Chavan. He is the one who short-listed Thomas. Probity in public life is also integral to one’s image-building,” said a senior NCP minister. “In public life one has to be accountable by making right decisions,” he added.
On his part, Chavan has asserted that there was never any intention to seek or extend favour to anybody in the CVC selection.
“I had followed the procedures. The Kerala government did not inform us about the involvement of Thomas in a scam,” he said.
In the case of the Antrix- Devas deal, where a contract was awarded to a private firm without bidding, the prime minister had to cancel the deal. It was Chavan again, who was involved in making the decision.
While he has strongly refuted the charge of irregularities, it has not washed well with all.
“Our objection was about the irregularities. Ultimately, the government had to cancel the deal. It shows we were right,” BJP general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
According to senior BJP leader Vinod Tawde, “Chavan was appointed as chief minister for being Mr Clean. But the decisions related to the Devas-Antrix deal or the CVC raise questions over his efficiency and clean image.”
The third blot on Chavan is his failure to disclose his flat at Vadala in the affidavit filed during the Rajya Sabha elections.
While the controversies do not clearly indicate his direct involvement in any wrong-doing, they have raised questions about his political integrity. Till recently, Chavan was among the few Congress leaders who operated silently and were careful about their image in public and political lives. Nobody in the prime minister’s office (PMO) or the central cabinet had any reason to fault him for policy decisions in the last six years. But that image has now taken a beating.
The knives are not out in the faction-ridden Congress yet, but they may soon.
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