Maharashtra CM Chavan summoned to meet Sonia

Amid indications that his continuance in office may be untenable, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has been summoned to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Saturday.

The Congress high command appears to be upset with Chavan, whose mother-in-law and two other relatives are among the 103 members of the controversial Adarsh Housing Society project in Mumbai in which several politicians, former defence services chiefs and other influential people have been alloted flats.

The land on which the 31-storey building in posh Colaba was said to have been meant for

Kargil war heroes and widows. The decision to summon Chavan to the capital for a meeting with the Congress chief comes despite his announcement only a few hours earlier that flats alloted to his mother-in-law and two other relatives were being surrendered. This has obviously not impressed the party leadership.

Highly placed sources said that Chavan, who became chief minister a year ago, is likely to be asked to step down in the wake of the Adarsh Housing scam. Chavan had been involved in clearing papers for the upscale high-rise Adarsh building project in his previous capacity as Maharashtra's revenue minister.