Chavan may stay on till Obama's visit is over

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday night said the leadership needed more time to establish Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan's culpability in the Adarsh housing society scam, in a clear indication that the leadership issue in Maharashtra will be settled only after the Obama visit.

Mukherjee told reporters: "We have received the documents and will get some more documents. We will need time to look at all the documents and arrive at a decision."

The two-member Congress panel of Mukherjee and defence minister A K Antony, which has been asked to probe the issue, held discussions on Sunday night. Mukherjee , who returned on Sunday evening from a tour of West Bengal, also met chief minister Chavan on Sunday.

Mukherjee's comment appeared dictated as much by logistical compulsions of a crammed political week as by the need for time to look for a Chavan's successor.

A key AICC session is to be held on Tuesday, three days before US President Barack Obama lands in Mumbai. Some in the Congress party feel that dumping the chief minister just ahead of the key presidential visit may not be a wise idea. While Parliament session starts on Monday, with Obama addressing a joint session, there is a view that the establishment may wait for the visit to be over to seal the political accountability in the Adarsh controversy.

This delay will help the Congress to scrutinize its talent cupboard to pick a successor for Chavan. The party is hamstrung by the fact that none of its senior leaders-—Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde and Narayan Rane—are untouched by the Adarsh taint. The party needs time to look beyond these usual suspects to find a leader for the hot seat.