Cracks in the state Congressseem to be widening, surely and steadily. On Tuesday, chief minister Ashok Chavan, used to fielding brickbats from the opposition, was taken completely by surprise when the offending missiles were launched at him by his own party members.
As Chavan listened flabbergasted, his cabinet colleagues in the Congress and NCP flayed him for poor homework on the land deal scam, saying it allowed huge mileage to the Shiv Sena-BJP in the monsoon session.
Chavan’s concerted attempts to dismiss as baseless the Rs70,000 crore land deal scam in Sion, awarded to a well-known builder, appears to have boomeranged on him.
NCP ministers, miffed with Chavan for withholding their projects, were quick to pick up cudgels against him. A senior NCP minister, on condition of anonymity, said, “I wonder how Chavan, who always boasts of transparency in government, landed himself in such a mess. We always thought he was Mr Clean.”
Another NCP MLA added, “When we plead with him to clear our files on small projects or transfers of officials, we have to go through a lengthy process. We are told the matter needs thorough scrutiny despite the concerned minister’s consent on the matter.”
An unsympathetic senior Congress minister added, “Chavan made several policy lapses while defending his case on housing policies, which have put him in the dock.”
A flustered Chavan, hoping to turn the tables on the opposition, then sprang a frivolous charge against them. He announced, “If the opposition accuses us of a Rs70,000-crore land scam, we can accuse them of a Rs50,000-crore SRA scam.” The opposition, though, was quick to counter the charge, asking Chavan how they could have engaged in such a massive scam on the housing project, the total investment of which did not exceed Rs40 crore during their tenure between 1995-99.
Chavan who is in total command of the DF government and the Congress in Maharashtra, looked extremely uncomfortable after this. Despite putting up a brave face against an aggressive opposition, he appeared on the back foot on the final day of the three-week monsoon session.
What made matters worse for Chavan was the lack of support from colleagues. While he was replying on the land scam in the state assembly, top cabinet ministers, except for RR Patil and Patangrao Kadam, were seated in their respective chambers.
Cabinet ministers said Chavan should have discussed with senior ministers the strategy on how to give a befitting reply to the opposition on the landdeal charges.
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