Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan's resignation accepted

Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan's resignation accepted today by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi ahead of winter parliament session today after his name in adarsh housing society scam. There is no clarity on who his successor will be with a bunch of names including Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and state minister Narayan Rane emerging as contenders. The announcement of the acceptance of the 63-year old chief minister's resignation from came from senior Congress leader and Defence Minster A K Antony after party chief Sonia Gandhi held yet another round of consultations with senior leaders. Congress' central observers will be in Mumbai on Thursday and a new leader will be chosen thereafter.
It is the first head to roll in the Mumbai Adarsh Society scam. Speculation is growing over his alleged role in it - three of his relatives were found to have flats in the society which was meant for war widows and veterans. Sonia Gandhi was deeply upset over the entire affair including the fact that three of the chief minister’s relatives were allotted flats in the Adarsh Group Housing Society. The land on which the 31-storey building had come up in posh Colaba was said to have been meant for Kargil war heroes and widows. Ashok Chavan became Chief Minister on December 8, 2008 after Vilasrao Deshmukh made his way out in the wake of 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.