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Journalism of Courage
Ashok Chavan may have bagged one of the only two seats that the Congress has won from Maharashtra, but two swords continue to dangle over his head. While he is yet to be completely absolved in the Adarsh housing scam, he also faces disqualification if the charges of furnishing incorrect accounts of his poll expenses during the 2009 Assembly elections are proved right.
The Election Commission has asked him to appear for a hearing in the matter. Former CM Chavan, 55, is currently an MLA from Bhokar in Nanded, which has been the bastion of the Congress since the time of his father Shankarrao Chavan. The family is known to be a loyalist of the Gandhis.
Chavan and 12 others had been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with the Adarsh Housing Society Scam in 2011. In March this year, the CBI filed a petition in the Bombay High Court urging it to delete Chavan’s name from the FIR. The HC will hear the matter in June.
Chavan, however, is facing a more serious charge that could even lead to his disqualification as a candidate — of giving incorrect accounts of his poll expenses during the 2009 Assembly elections.
Dr Madhavrao Kinhalkar, who had lost to Chavan in the polls and had filed the compliant with Election Commission, saying the expenditure sheets submitted by him did not account for the money spent on “paid news”.
