Congress tells Ashok Chavan to be sober in his expressions

Ashok Chavan's diatribe against his detractors in the party for "masterminding" his ouster as Maharashtra chief minister does not seem to have gone down well with the Congress high command which has asked him to be "sober in all his expressions".

"It was his personal opinion. He was addressing a rally and these could be metaphors. But we do not accept all such allegations. We off course exhort every Congressman to be sober in all respects. A soldier has to be disciplined and maintain balance," party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.

He said this when asked to comment on Chavan targeting his unnamed detractors in Delhi and the state at a rally in his hometown Nanded yesterday, alleging that "some people had given 'supari' to defame me. I am innocent in the Adarsh scam and the inquiry would prove it".

Chavan had also come down heavily on the media at the rally, accusing a section of it of conducting trials.

"They are trying to pronounce someone guilty without evidence. This should be stopped," he had said, addressing his first rally after stepping down from the post of chief minister in the wake of the Adarsh Housing Society scam.