Sonia Gandhi issues summons. Is Ashok Chavan in trouble?

Caught in an embarrassing situation after the links of his relatives to the controversial Adarsh cooperative housing society started surfacing, chief minister Ashok Chavan put up a brave face on Friday, hinting at a political ploy to tarnish his image.

But speculation that his continuance in office may be untenable became strong after he was summoned to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Saturday. On Thursday, Gandhi held a meeting with defence minister AK Antony, who is also the party’s in-charge for the state, in the wake of the
controversy.

“I have never played any role as revenue minister or chief minister in sanctioning the land or promoting membership,” Chavan said. He also wondered why was the defence department raising security concerns a decade later. The issue of the housing society coming up so close to the armed corps headquarters in Colaba was first reported by DNA on April 2.

Earlier in the day, Chavan directed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to revoke the occupation certificate of the society, thus stopping members from taking possession of their flats

In an effort to detach his name from relatives who are members of the society, Chavan said he should not be held guilty if his distant relatives were members.

“My family consists of my wife and two daughters,” he said. However, he also disclosed that his mother-in-law Bhagwati Manoharlal Sharma, sister-in-law Seema Sharma and relative Madan Sharma were members of the society. He said two of his relatives had applied to withdraw the membership and get a refund for the amount paid.

“My mother-in-law is no longer alive and thus her membership gets cancelled automatically. Nobody from the family has claimed her flat,” he added.  

While maintaining that the party high command had not sought any explanation, he said, “If summoned to Delhi, I am willing to furnish all the details.” Chavan said that he does not think that his government is in an embarrassing situation and there is no need for his resignation. Sources said he is expected to go to Delhi on Saturday.

Sources in the party, both at the Centre and the state, however, maintain that Chavan cannot escape by underplaying the controversy. He will have to come clean about his relatives, they say. There’s speculation that Chavan’s rivals are using the controversy to nail him.

The chief minister said the first letter for the allotment of the plot was moved in 1999, and the building is almost ready by now.

“Why were the questions about the security threat not raised in all these years? How and why the permission was given if there was security perception?” Chavan asked.

Chavan also said that the land belonged to the state government, though it is in the possession of the defence ministry. “This has been confirmed by the defence in its correspondence with the city collector,” he said. Chavan also clarified that the land was not reserved for the Kargil heroes. “Of the 102 members, 37 are from the defence forces, including two officers who served in Kargil and a widow of Kargil hero.”

He admitted that there were irregularities as far as the CRZ is concerned. He said that there was no need for a separate enquiry as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has already started the probe.

Asked about the 16 officials who dealt with the society files at different points of time, and own flats in the building themselves or through proxies, Chavan said all of them have completed the eligibility criteria needed for the membership.

“We have been giving plots to the privileged class for their housing complexes. We will definitely think of making necessary changes in the existing act to avoid any such conflict of interest,” he said.