By IANS,
New Delhi : President Pratibha Patil has accepted Prithviraj Chavan’s resignation as minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to enable him to take up the Maharashtra chief minister’s job, Rashtrapati Bhavan said Wednesday.
The president has accepted the resignation on the recommendation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “with immediate effect”, Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a press release.
Prithviraj Chavan also held charge of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Union Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal will now look after these ministries.
Kapil Sibal has been “temporarily entrusted the work of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Earth Sciences”, the release said.
Prithviraj Chavan has been chosen as Maharashtra chief minister to succeed Ashok Chavan, whose resignation was accepted by the Congress leadership following allegations of his association with Mumbai’s Adarsh housing society scam.
The 31-storey Adarsh apartment block being constructed in south Mumbai’s posh Colaba area has been hit by allegations of corruption and irregularities, including charges that the flats meant for Kargil heroes and war widows were given to bureaucrats, relatives of politicians and former army and navy chiefs among others.
Ashok Chavan came under the scanner after questions were raised about his role as then revenue minister in relaxing Adarsh housing society’s membership norms and revelations that one of the flats was owned by his mother-in-law. Names of some of his other relatives had also cropped up as beneficiaries of flats.