New Delhi/Mumbai:
The Congress Legislative Party met this evening to choose a leader, and the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra. After a meeting that lasted almost an hour, the MLAs left the decision to party president Sonia Gandhi.
A one-line resolution was passed by the CLP meeting authorising Gandhi to pick the new Chief Minister of the state. The resolution was moved by the outgoing Chief Minister
and seconded by Revenue Minister Narayan Rane, Legislative Council Chairman Shivajirao Deshmukh and former Chief Minister Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar, party sources said.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, and Defence Minister AK Antony were present as central observers at the meeting in Mumbai. Both leaders had been appointed by Sonia Gandhi to look into the Adarsh Housing Scam and submit an internal report.
Pranab Mukherjee reportedly told the MLAs that a change of Chief Minister was necessary because of public perception on the Adarsh scam. He said political parties cannot afford to neglect public perception.
"Some of them (MLAs) have said that this my individual suggestion. We have noted everything, will report to the Congress President and after obtaining when she will decide it will be communicated to you", Mukherjee said after the meeting.
Chavan resigns
Earlier today, Ashok Chavan's resignation, tendered on October 30, was finally accepted "pending full inquiry" by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, hours before the Winter Session of Parliament began. The party then accepted the resignation of another controversial leader, Suresh Kalmadi, from his post as Congress Parliamentary Party secretary. As the man in charge of organizing the Commonwealth Games, Kalmadi and the deals he okayed have become totemic of financial violations. (Read: Front-runners for Maharashtra Chief Minister) | (Read: Chavan, Kalmadi out, A Raja next?)
The BJP intended to use the Adarsh scam and the seemingly-ubiquitous corruption in the Commonwealth Games to attack the government. (Watch: Entire nation shamed, says Opposition)
Investigations by the media suggest that politicians, retired Army officers and senior bureaucrats colluded to corner flats in a building in Colaba that was meant to provide discounted flats to war widows and veterans. Chavan admitted earlier this month that three of his relatives were allotted flats in the high-rise named Adarsh.
Adarsh was built without required environmental clearances. Two months ago, the Navy and Army also objected to the building on the grounds that it will give occupants a clear view of defence installations along Mumbai's coast.
Chavan was Revenue Minister when the Adarsh Society was sanctioned special benefits - he sanctioned its expansion to allow close to 30 additional flats by gifting to the building land reserved next door for a bus depot. Chavan was appointed Chief Minister in December 2008 after Vilasrao Deshmukh resigned after Mumbai's 26/11 terror attacks.
Chavan said that his government did not make any mistakes in permitting the construction. "In public life, one has to come clean on a number of things...for all the decisions taken by my predecessors and me, let the investigation be completed."
As speculation grows over who will replace Ashok Chavan as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi said the party wants a chief minister "who is clean." He added, "The chief minister should be someone who is capable and can deliver."
Maharashtra's next CM: The front-runners
So who shall be Maharashtra's next CM. Sources tell NDTV that 4 names are doing the rounds:
Prithivraj Chavan, Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office.
About him: Prithviraj Chavan is 64 years old and comes from a Marathi family based Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He is a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra.
Chavan, who has previously been a Lok Sabha MP, was educated at the prestigious BITS, Pilani in Rajasthan and then at the University of California, Berkley, USA. He describes himself as an Engineer, Industrialist, Political and Social Worker.
Apart from his duties in the PMO, Chavan is also the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Parliamentary Affairs.
ADVANTAGES: Chavan is the chief contender. He has no links to the Adarsh housing scam that saw Chavan topple and has had the names of many senior leaders crop up. Chavan has a clean Image and is close to the Congress high command
DISADVANTAGES: He is combative with ally Nationalist Congress Party, which is part of the government in Maharashtra. Also, he does not have a mass base.
Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Power Minister
About him: Shinde, 69, is a former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He was also the first Dalit CM of the state. Shinde was a policeman who quit the force to join politics and has been a Congressman for long. Shinde too is a Rajya Sabha MP.
Shinde has served as Governor and even contested elections for the post of Vice-President in 2002. He lost to Bhairon Singh Shekhawat of the NDA.
ADVANTAGES: Shinde is a former Chief Minister and is welll-versed in Maharashtra politics.
DISADVANTAGES: Adarsh Society got fake environmental clearance and 51 extra flats during Shinde's tenure; One of his aides reportedly has a flat in the Adarsh Housing Society. Shinde has defends hinslf saying, "I own no benami property. When I was CM I signed many files. This happened to be one.''
Another disadvantage is that as a Dalit face Shinde is not acceptable to the Maratha lobby.
Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, Maharashtra Congress leader
About him: Seventy-eight-year old Balasaheb Vikhe Patil has been a Lok Sabha MP and a Minister of State at the Centre, apart from having held many positions in the state Congress.
ADVANTAGES: He is an experienced administrator, has a strong mass base in Ahmednagar. That he has been part of the union cabinet is also seen as an advantage.
DISADVANTAGES: He had switched to the Shiv Sena for a while and was a minister in the NDA Cabinet.
Balasaheb Thorat, Maharashtra School Education Minister
About him: Thorat, who is backed by Ashok Chavan's predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh, has a clean image in the state politics. He has been an MLA since 1985 and a cabinet minister for the last 11 years. He is known to be a staunch loyalist of Congress and the Gandhi family and has played a leading role Maharashtra's co-operative movement.
He is far more low profile than the other men in the fray and is best known in recent times for angering environmentalists by flouting rules when he entered a tiger's cage in Nagpur last year.
ADVANTAGES: Thorat is a Congress loyalist and has a clean image
DISADVANTAGES: Too low profile
A one-line resolution was passed by the CLP meeting authorising Gandhi to pick the new Chief Minister of the state. The resolution was moved by the outgoing Chief Minister
and seconded by Revenue Minister Narayan Rane, Legislative Council Chairman Shivajirao Deshmukh and former Chief Minister Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar, party sources said.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, and Defence Minister AK Antony were present as central observers at the meeting in Mumbai. Both leaders had been appointed by Sonia Gandhi to look into the Adarsh Housing Scam and submit an internal report.
Pranab Mukherjee reportedly told the MLAs that a change of Chief Minister was necessary because of public perception on the Adarsh scam. He said political parties cannot afford to neglect public perception.
"Some of them (MLAs) have said that this my individual suggestion. We have noted everything, will report to the Congress President and after obtaining when she will decide it will be communicated to you", Mukherjee said after the meeting.
Chavan resigns
Earlier today, Ashok Chavan's resignation, tendered on October 30, was finally accepted "pending full inquiry" by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, hours before the Winter Session of Parliament began. The party then accepted the resignation of another controversial leader, Suresh Kalmadi, from his post as Congress Parliamentary Party secretary. As the man in charge of organizing the Commonwealth Games, Kalmadi and the deals he okayed have become totemic of financial violations. (Read: Front-runners for Maharashtra Chief Minister) | (Read: Chavan, Kalmadi out, A Raja next?)
The BJP intended to use the Adarsh scam and the seemingly-ubiquitous corruption in the Commonwealth Games to attack the government. (Watch: Entire nation shamed, says Opposition)
Investigations by the media suggest that politicians, retired Army officers and senior bureaucrats colluded to corner flats in a building in Colaba that was meant to provide discounted flats to war widows and veterans. Chavan admitted earlier this month that three of his relatives were allotted flats in the high-rise named Adarsh.
Adarsh was built without required environmental clearances. Two months ago, the Navy and Army also objected to the building on the grounds that it will give occupants a clear view of defence installations along Mumbai's coast.
Chavan was Revenue Minister when the Adarsh Society was sanctioned special benefits - he sanctioned its expansion to allow close to 30 additional flats by gifting to the building land reserved next door for a bus depot. Chavan was appointed Chief Minister in December 2008 after Vilasrao Deshmukh resigned after Mumbai's 26/11 terror attacks.
Chavan said that his government did not make any mistakes in permitting the construction. "In public life, one has to come clean on a number of things...for all the decisions taken by my predecessors and me, let the investigation be completed."
As speculation grows over who will replace Ashok Chavan as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi said the party wants a chief minister "who is clean." He added, "The chief minister should be someone who is capable and can deliver."
Maharashtra's next CM: The front-runners
So who shall be Maharashtra's next CM. Sources tell NDTV that 4 names are doing the rounds:
Prithivraj Chavan, Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office.
About him: Prithviraj Chavan is 64 years old and comes from a Marathi family based Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He is a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra.
Chavan, who has previously been a Lok Sabha MP, was educated at the prestigious BITS, Pilani in Rajasthan and then at the University of California, Berkley, USA. He describes himself as an Engineer, Industrialist, Political and Social Worker.
Apart from his duties in the PMO, Chavan is also the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Parliamentary Affairs.
ADVANTAGES: Chavan is the chief contender. He has no links to the Adarsh housing scam that saw Chavan topple and has had the names of many senior leaders crop up. Chavan has a clean Image and is close to the Congress high command
DISADVANTAGES: He is combative with ally Nationalist Congress Party, which is part of the government in Maharashtra. Also, he does not have a mass base.
Sushilkumar Shinde, Union Power Minister
About him: Shinde, 69, is a former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He was also the first Dalit CM of the state. Shinde was a policeman who quit the force to join politics and has been a Congressman for long. Shinde too is a Rajya Sabha MP.
Shinde has served as Governor and even contested elections for the post of Vice-President in 2002. He lost to Bhairon Singh Shekhawat of the NDA.
ADVANTAGES: Shinde is a former Chief Minister and is welll-versed in Maharashtra politics.
DISADVANTAGES: Adarsh Society got fake environmental clearance and 51 extra flats during Shinde's tenure; One of his aides reportedly has a flat in the Adarsh Housing Society. Shinde has defends hinslf saying, "I own no benami property. When I was CM I signed many files. This happened to be one.''
Another disadvantage is that as a Dalit face Shinde is not acceptable to the Maratha lobby.
Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, Maharashtra Congress leader
About him: Seventy-eight-year old Balasaheb Vikhe Patil has been a Lok Sabha MP and a Minister of State at the Centre, apart from having held many positions in the state Congress.
ADVANTAGES: He is an experienced administrator, has a strong mass base in Ahmednagar. That he has been part of the union cabinet is also seen as an advantage.
DISADVANTAGES: He had switched to the Shiv Sena for a while and was a minister in the NDA Cabinet.
Balasaheb Thorat, Maharashtra School Education Minister
About him: Thorat, who is backed by Ashok Chavan's predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh, has a clean image in the state politics. He has been an MLA since 1985 and a cabinet minister for the last 11 years. He is known to be a staunch loyalist of Congress and the Gandhi family and has played a leading role Maharashtra's co-operative movement.
He is far more low profile than the other men in the fray and is best known in recent times for angering environmentalists by flouting rules when he entered a tiger's cage in Nagpur last year.
ADVANTAGES: Thorat is a Congress loyalist and has a clean image
DISADVANTAGES: Too low profile
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