Sena wooing Congress? Unfortunate that Chavan's name not dropped from Adarsh scam, says Saamana

Mumbai, Nov 21: Apparently going soft on Congress after the end of its alliance with BJP, the Shiv Sena today said it is "unfortunate" that former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's name was not dropped as an accused in the Adarsh Society scam.

"The ghost called Adarsh refuses to leave the Congress and former CM Ashok Chavan. Whenever they (the Congress) try to get rid of it, they face stiff resistance. Its unfortunate that it does not seem he (Chavan) will get relief in this case (Adarsh scam) anytime soon," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana.

The Bombay High Court had on Wednesday rejected the CBI's plea to drop former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's name as an accused in the Adarsh Society scam.

The probe agency had filed an application in the Bombay High Court to drop his name, after then Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan had rejected CBI's request to prosecute Chavan in January this year. In a one line order, Bombay High Court Justice S G Dighe had said, "I am rejecting this application."

Chavan had to step down as CM after his name got embroiled in the housing scam. CBI, that had conducted an enquiry in this matter, had filed a chargesheet against Chavan and 12 others in 2012.

The Sena added that after Chavan's win in the Lok Sabha election of 2014, his political career seemed to get an upward momentum once again after having to step down as CM in 2012, but the recent High Court order has clouded his political career once again.

"When the Congress was losing the Loksabha elections earlier this year, (Ashok) Chavan was one of the two leaders who managed to win. The Assembly elections too proved fatal for many Congress leaders and as a result, it seemed his (Chavan's) good days were about to start again and he could be made the State Congress President.

"But the recent High Court order has once again made Chavan an accused in the scam. This can put a brake on his political career. Since the final order is yet to come, we cannot say for sure whether his political career will come to an end completely or not," the Sena said.

PTI