People in Glass Houses
The Congress Party has decided to field Ashok Chavan, the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, who is tainted in the Adarsh Scam, as its candidate from Nanded. The Commission of Inquiry appointed to probe the Adarsh scam had indicted Ashok Chavan. The CBI wanted a prosecution to be filed against him. The governor refused sanction to prosecute Ashok Chavan. This was a politically motivated decision to save the declining fortunes of the Congress party in Maharashtra. The party had already fielded Pavan Bansal, who resigned from the government after the Railway Board scam, from Chandigarh. The CBI investigation into the whole case raises many questions. The family and staff members of the former Railway Minister were selling Railway Board jobs and yet it is claimed the CBI was unaware of the minister’s link. If the CBI had applied even a fraction of the standards which they used against BJP leaders of Gujarat and Rajasthan the case against Bansal was an open and shut case. The campaign in Himachal Pradesh is being led by a man under CBI investigation. The Chief Minister Vir Bhadra Singh is reported to have been questioned by the CBI in a case where there appears to be conclusive evidence against him. The party has aligned with a convicted Lalu Prasad in Bihar. Coming back to the emphasis on probity, the candidate Congress has fielded against me in Amritsar is a charge-sheeted politician. The charge sheet against Captain Sahab is pending in Ludhiana and the prosecution is on.