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Graft-tainted Chavan gets Cong ticket to contest from Nanded

Deciding to brazen out the corruption charges against a former Maharashtra chief minister, the Congress has fielded the controversial Ashok Chavan as its candidate for the Lok Sabha seat from Nanded constituency.

Chavan, who was sacked as chief minister of Maharashtra in November 2010 by the Congress high command for his alleged role in the Adarsh housing scam, filed his nominations from Nanded on Wednesday.
“I am absolutely clear that I have done no wrong,” said Chavan after filing the papers. “I have not been proved guilty and there is no corruption involved in the Adarsh case. I am 100 per cent sure of victory.”
The former chief minister had been indicted by a judicial commission of enquiry, which had said there was a nexus between his granting of clearances to the promoters of the illegal building and some of his close relatives being allotted flats in the Adarsh high-rise in south Mumbai’s expensive Cuffe Parade locality.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had also filed a charge-sheet against Chavan, but the state governor refused permission to the agency to prosecute him. Rahul Gandhi, the Congress vice-president, had criticised the decision, though the party has been backing Chavan. A special court, however, refused to allow the CBI to drop charges against Chavan.
While the BJP attacked the Congress for giving the Nanded ticket to Chavan, the former chief minister shot back at the party, claiming it had no “moral authority” to criticise him, as it had given a ticket to former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who is also under investigation on corruption charges.
The Congress high command has been under pressure to deny tickets to two senior leaders in Maharashtra for their alleged involvement in scams. The party refused to give the ticket to Suresh Kalmadi, embroiled in the Commonwealth Games scam. However, it decided to back Chavan at the last minute and give him a ticket.