The New Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi, which saw the recent incident of Shiv Sena MPs “force-feeding” one of its catering employees, has given the already warring allies Congress and NCP another issue to attack each other. Alleging shoddy construction work at the Sadan, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan put the blame on Avinash Chamankar, the building contractor who is said to be close to the state’s PWD minister Chhagan Bhujbal (NCP). Chavan said he had left a lot of work incomplete and failed to respond to repeated calls. “I have been told the contractor has not delivered what he had promised. There have been complaints against him,” he said. Chavan’s remarks came after Bhujbal blamed him for poor management of guest house and failure to act against Bipin Bihari Mallick, the state’s resident commissioner in Delhi. The maintenance of the guest house comes under the General Administration Department, led by Chavan. Meanwhile, BJP MP Kirit Somaiya has demanded a CBI probe in the alleged corruption in the construction of the guest house. “In the state Assembly, a public account committee report has indicted Bhujbal for showering undue favours on Chamankar for the project. Also, the contractor sub-let a part of the project work to a company owned by Bhujbal's daughter-in-law. It is a scam worth Rs 500 crore,” Somaiya said Saturday. The BJP MP also slammed Chavan, demanding to now why the CM failed to act against Bhujbal.
