A day after Chavan indulged in lunch diplomacy to garner support to plead his innocence in the Adarsh case, senior leadership in the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has sought a detailed report about the developments from the state Congress.
The Congress high command has issued a stern warning to former chief minister Ashokrao Chavan for resorting to pressure tactics to plead his case in the Adarsh housing scam.
A day after Chavan indulged in lunch diplomacy to garner support to plead his innocence in the Adarsh case, senior leadership in the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has sought a detailed report about the developments from the state Congress.
It also indicated that political pressure cannot become a weapon to counter the ongoing process of interrogation by Central Bureau of Investigation.
Citing examples of how political pressure never works in the Congress, a senior leader said, “In the past, former chief minister AR Antulay, who was a lot more powerful, had to resign in a cement scam despite having the support of all the cabinet ministers and MLAs. More recently, despite mass support, Jaganmohan Reddy had to go. The party will not allow any individual to dictate terms to it.”
Sensing the anger at the Centre, all the 10 MLAs who extended support to Chavan appear to be have gone on the back-foot arguing they had no intention of mounting political pressure through the show of strength. Chavan also appears to have swung into the damage control mode.
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Manikrao Thakre said, “Chavan has conveyed to me that the 16 independent MLAs who have extended support to the Congress party wanted him to facilitate their meeting with chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.” Thakre also indicated that there was no question of the Congress buckling under any political pressure to interfere in the CBI probe.
A senior MLA who was part of the delegation which on Thursday argued that the Chavan trial should be conducted by the state commission instead of the CBI, said, “I was caught unawares. I did not know the lunch meeting held at former minister Abdul Sattar’s residence was to consolidate support for Chavan.”
One of them said on condition of anonymity, “I had sought an appointment with the chief minister last week. It was sheer coincidence that I was around when the delegation arrived at Mantralaya. I had no clue that delegation who met the CM wanted to plead Chavan’s case.”
Notwithstanding the damage control underway in the state Congress to save Chavan and his handful of supporters from further action, the AICC is keeping a close watch on the developments in the state unit.
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