Maharashtra CM loses his post over Adarsh scam

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday became the first political casualty of the Adarsh Housing Society scam in Mumbai, with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi directing him to resign.

"Pending enquiry, his (Chavan's) offer of resignation has been accepted. He has been asked to tender his resignation to Governor (K Sankaranarayanan)," Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said in a brief statement.

The Congress' decision came hours before the winter session of Parliament was set to commence, in which the Opposition had threatened to vociferously raise the issue.

Chavan, 51, had on October 30 offered to resign during a meeting with Gandhi after it emerged that three of his relatives were members of the housing society in upmarket Colaba.

Gandhi decided to remove Chavan even before Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A K Antony could submit a report on the housing scam.

She had asked the two senior leaders to submit their report immediately after the scam broke out. Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance had declared that it would not allow Parliament to function till 'strong action' is taken in the matter

Sonia reportedly asked Chavan to resign minutes after United States President Barack Obama left India on Tuesday morning after concluding a three-day visit. Incidentally, Chavan had received Obama when he landed in Mumbai on Saturday.