Pointing fingers

In Maharashtra's byzantine politics, it is often difficult to say who the culprit is or more precisely, where a crime could possibly have originated. Unlike other state capitals, Mumbai's high profile as the country's corporate headquarters and as the largest contributor to the state exchequer, its significance as the centre of Bollywood glitz and glamour, the city's prohibitive land rates, recent housing scams and the infamous underworld, all make for a combustible mix in which the best buddies one day could become sworn enemies the next. 

The Adarsh housing scam falls into this classic pattern. If the impact of ripping off an illegal housing society in the name of those who laid down their lives in Kargil was not serious enough, the current goings on in Maharashtra's murky politics would do any comic opera proud.

There are at least three serving and former Maharashtra chief ministers (CM), all close Congress comrades, who are now pointing an accusing finger at each other for clearing an illegal land allotment – the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam – muddying the situation to a degree where a return to normalcy seems difficult.

The state's stalwart Congress leaders are at the moment deeply involved in playing the time-tested blame game on the Adarsh housing society scam. By a sudden quirk of circumstances, every former chief minister is doing nothing more than simply clarifying his position, which in turn is being interpreted by the other as a game of buck passing and petulance.

Figure this one out. Former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan has pointed fingers at his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh, saying as the state revenue minister during the latter's tenure, it was beyond his jurisdiction to allot land to Adarsh society.

Deshmukh had earlier blamed Chavan for the land allotment, while Sushil Kumar Shinde, another former CM and currently Union Power Minister, held Deshmukh responsible for the decision.

According to Shinde, Deshmukh during his stint as chief minister, had issued a Letter of Intent (LoI) in favour of allotting land to Adarsh housing society.

For the moment, though, it is Chavan who is in the dock. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has charge sheeted him but there is more to be played out in this all out war for the Maratha sweepstakes, with the next elections certain to become an exercise in political muscle flexing.

With Chavan cornered alone and Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushil Kumar Shinde watching the unfolding drama from a safe distance, statements on all sides have dried up, all too suddenly.

Says Abu Asim Azmi, president Samajwadi Party Mumbai and Maharashtra, "Everyone involved in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam is telling a lie. Politicians, bureaucrats, defence personnel, IAS, IPS officers, all whose name have come to light have misused their positions and benefited in the name of soldiers.” He adds, "Only bureaucrats have been arrested while politicians are roaming free. I think the chief minister and finance minister of the time should be booked.''

Political sources say there is emerging consensus among ruling party politicians to cut a sordid story short. But is the opposition alert enough to make an issue? Given the involvement of local politicians in various shady land deals in Mumbai and elsewhere, it is no surprise that the issue which is raising a lot of dust in Delhi, continues to be lukewarm in state politics – the finger pointing notwithstanding.

Points out Sarfaraz Arzu, Editor, Daily Hindustan: "This case has been manipulated. After the High Court decision which said that the Adarsh land belongs to the Government of Maharashtra, everyone is saying that if the land belongs to government, then the CM has a right to allot in the name of public welfare. Ashok Chavan has been charge sheeted because he has made allotments in the name of his relatives."

This dilemma, though, has been laid at the doorsteps of current CM Prithviraj Chavan, who finds he is unable to move substantially in a case where his own party stalwarts are involved. Sources say that he is keen to stay away from the allotment issue and has hence decided to do nothing about it.

Will it help? Says Madhav Bhandari, BJP spokesperson, "The CBI has taken a long time to file a charge sheet. Every bureaucrat who was sent to jail is now out on bail and the Congress is trying to put this issue on the back burner. They are hoping that people's memory is short and after a year, no one is likely to remember.''

Eyebrows have also been raised about the abrupt transfer of CBI Joint Director Rishiraj Singh, who was leading the investigations into the case. Singh had written thousands of pages on the scam after deep research and it is fairly certain that the new appointee, a 1986 batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer Keshav Kumar, is going to take time to go through the nuts and bolts of the case, by which time Adarsh may  no longer be in the headlines. That is the sure way of sending any case to the cooler and the Congress knows all about it.