Adarsh Housing scam: BJP unfazed by Narayan Rane's role in scam

NEW DELHI: BJP is set to step up its offensive on the Adarsh housing scam, disregarding some inconvenient facts that may come in the way.

Party chief Nitin Gadkari knocked up the attack on the government several notches, demanding dismissal of the Maharashtra government for its alleged involvement in the scam. He said that it was a fit case for the application of Article 356 of the Constitution since the involvement of a procession of Congress leaders in the scam amounted to “constitutional breakdown ” in Maharashtra.

He stressed that all the possible replacements for Ashok Chavan also face corruption charges. Gadkari’s attack showed that the party was not going to be deterred by the fact that the ministry of defence under NDA government misled Parliament in 2003.

The MoD told Parliament that the land which was allotted to the promoters of Adarsh was never in the possession of Army — an assertion which is contrary to Army’s claim that it enjoyed “de facto” control of the plush site in Mumbai’s Colaba. Significantly, the application of Adarsh for land was cleared by the Sena-BJP government during Narayan Rane’s chief ministership.

Rane’s switch to Congress makes it easier for the saffron partners to target the Congress-NCP alliance, especially because Congress may not like to rake up the involvement of the former sainik now that he is among the party’s leading lights.