Mumbai:
Mumbai's Adarsh Housing Society may have become the catchment area for a massive political controversy, but Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan denied the complex was meant for Kargil martyr's families.
"The land was never reserved for defence personnel or Kargil heroes," Chavan said at a press conference on Friday, attempting to come clean on the issue while responding to allegations that top politicians, bureaucrats and Army officers appropriated land meant for Kargil heroes.
The question then arises: Just who was the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society intended for?
Sources in the Maharashtra government told NDTV that in the original application submitted in 1999-2000, Adarsh promoters asked for land in the name of retired and serving defence personnel.
The first time widows were mentioned at all was in a letter to the Mumbai Collector dated April 5, 2000 in which Colonel S S Jog GOC, HQ, Maharashtra and Gujarat said, "Necessary action at your end may be taken as deemed fit for the welfare of service personnel/ ex servicemen/their widows."
There was no mention of Kargil.
The first time Kargil was mentioned was in a letter in June 2000 to the then state Revenue Minister Ashok Chavan. Ironically, this was the time when the promoters wanted to extend the allotment to civilians saying, "We need your kind help to accommodate and reward our heroes of Kargil. We have many officers in the society who participated in Operation "Vijay"."
Not just once, but repeatedly the name of Kargil martyrs was used to wrangle benefits. Even though at the time they sent these letters, only three Kargil martyrs figured in the list of allotments.
"Only 3 Kargil martyrs were allotted flats in the society," Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said.
What's clear is, at the end of the day what started off as a defence initiative, ended up becoming general extending to bureaucrats, politicians and some defence personnel.
Here's a list of flat owners in the Adarsh Society: 1. Shri RC Thakur
2. Brigadier MM Wanchu
3. Commander Rajiv Pilo
4. Commander AS Balakrishnan
5. Surg Capt PS Tampi
6. Shri Parmanand K Hinduja
7. Shri Sudhakar Laxman Madke
8. Smt Sushila Shaligram
9. Admiral Madhvendra Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM
10. Shri JM Abhyankar
11. Shri PV Deshmukh (Was secretary in Urban Development department)
12. Shri Gajanan S Koli
13. Shri Amol V Kharbhari
14. Shri Kiran Bhadange
15. Shri Kanhaiyalal Gidwani (Congress MLC)
16. Shri Kailash K Gidwani (Son of Congress MLC Gidwani)
17. Shri Amit K Gidwani (Son of Congress MLC Gidwani)
18. Shri Arun P Pawar
19. Major Ashish Tandon
20. Lieutenant Commander A Puran Kumar
21. Major General VS Yadav
22. Lieutenant General PK Rampal
23. Colonel Amarjeet Singh
24. Lieutenant Colonel PH Ram
25. Brigadier AC Chopra
26. Lieutenant Colonel RK Singh
27. Commander John Mathew
28. Major General Tej Kishen Kaul, PVSM, AVSM, VSM
29. Lieutenant General GS Sihota
30. Brigadier MD Singh
31. Commodore Gopal Bharati
32. Brigadier Romeshchander Sharma
33. Lieutenant General Shantanu Choudhry
34. Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh
35. Brigadier Tara Kant Sinha
36. Captain AP Singh
37. Lieutenant Commander Chunnilal
38. Shri Rajesh Shantilal Bora
39. Dr Arun V Dawle
40. Shri Sampat R Khidse
41. Shri Anand S Bharose
42. Smt Seema Vyas (wife of former collector Pradeep Vyas)
43. Shri Kanishka J Phatak (son of former Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak)
44. Miss Supriya V Maske
45. Shri Shriniwas D Patil
46. Shri Shivajirao C Deshmukh
47. Shri Shah Dhaval Rajesh
48. Ms Kavita S Godbole (related to Cong MLC Gidwani)
49. Commander Harbhajan Singh (Retired)
50. Shri Malav J Shah
51. Shri Rajesh Kumar Das
52. Shri Aditya B Patil
53. Ms Sumeela Sethi
54. Shri Chandrashekar R Gaikwad
55. Shri Shivajirao Shankar Kale
56. Shri Krishnarao D Bhegade
57. Dr Sanjay Radkar
58. Shri Arun S Adate
59. Shri Jitendra S Awhad (NCP MLC)
60. Miss Soniya S Kholapure
61. Shri Vishwas B Chougale
62. Shri Raghunath M Bhosale
63. Shri Suresh Prabhu (Shiv Sena)
64. Shri Uttam Ghakare
65. Major NW Khankhoje
66. Shri Nivruti G Bhosale
67. Shri Amar Singh Waghmare
68. Lieutenant General Tejinder Singh, VSM
69. Shri Krishnajirao Rakhmajirao Desai (alias) Babasaheb Kupekar (Former Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly)
70. Shri Ranjit Chintamani Sangitrao (son of bureaucrat)
71. Devyani Khobragade (daughter of former BEST GM Uttam Khobragade)
72. Lieutenant Commander Gurumukh S Grewal
73. Smt Seema Vinod Sharma (Relative of Ashok Chavan)
74. Shri Jagdish Ambika Prasad Sharma
75. Shri Sajjan Singh Yadav
76. Shri Kedari Vishal Kishore
77. General Nirmal Chander Vij, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM
78. General Deepak Kapoor, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC
79. Smt Idzes Angmo Kundan (former city collector, currently working in Secretariat)
80. Shri Onkar Tiwari (son of Ramanand Tiwari, then secretary of Urban Development Department)
81. Shri Balasahib Yeshwantrao Sawant
82. Shri Sadusing Fulsing Rajput
83. Mr Mukundrao Govindrao Mankar
84. Mr Sanjoy Shankaran (son of former Chief Secretary D K Sankaran)
85. Mr Paramveer Abhey Sancheti
86. Mr Suresh Gulabrao Atram
87. Ms Sheetal Vinod Ganju
88. Mr Anil Kumar Thakur
89. Mr Bhavesh Ambalal Patel
90. Mrs Bhagwati Manoharlal Sharma (Ashok Chavan's late mother-in-law)
91. Mr Madanlal Milkiram Sharma (Ashok Chavan's relative)
92. Mr Satyasandha Vinayak Barve
93. Major General Ram Kanwar Hooda
94. Mr Dhondiram Ganpati Waghmare
95. Colonel KJS Khurana
96. Ms Raorane Rupali Harishchandra
97. Shri Siddhartha Sonu Gamre
98. Shri Girish Pravinchandra Mehta
99. Shri Manilal K Thakur
100. Petty Officer Sushil Chand Sharma
101. Shri S B Chavan
102. Captain Praveen Kumar
103. Dr (Mrs) Archana Tiwari