Chavan accuses Kerala CM of misquoting him on CVC issue

New Delhi, Mar 10 (PTI) Under attack after the Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed him, Chief Minister
of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan,
on Thursday accused the Chief Minister of the south Indian
state of Kerala, V S Achutanandan, of misquoting him on the
CVC issue.
Asked about Achutanandan accusing him of "lying"
regarding his reported remarks on appointment of P J Thomas as
Kerala Chief Secretary , he said "my statement was misquoted
and twisted by the Chief Minister of Kerala".
"All I had said in my press conference in Pune was that
Thomas was appointed Chief Secretary by Government of Kerala,"
he said.
Achutanandan had said that Chavan was trying to hide his
fault by blaming the Kerala government.
In Pune, Chavan had sought to pass the buck to the
Kerala government. He had said Department of Personnel and
Training (DoPT) had suggested three names -- two retired
officers and one serving-- for the post of Central Vigilance
Commissioner (CVC). One of them was Chief Secretary in a state
to be brought to Delhi. "Vigilance clearance is done by the
state," Chavan had said.
On Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement, Chavan
said "I would like to clarify right now, after what Prime
Minister has clarified, I have nothing more to add."
Chavan was the Minister of State for Personnel when the
controversial appointment of Thomas as CVC was made in
September last year.
He was asked to comment on Singh's statement in the Lok
Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, two days back
which virtually blamed him for omitting to mention the
chargesheet pending against Thomas before the high-power
committee headed by the Prime Minister.
"The Prime Minister has made a very clear statement in
the House. I dont think anything further needs to be said," he
said to a volley of questions on the issue.
Asked why Thomas was empanelled as Secretary to the
Government of India despite a chargesheet against him, Chavan
said "that question needs to be answered. You need to know the
process of how it happens. You must ask the people who are
involved in the process". He did not clarify further.
Sources admitted that there was an error in recommending
Thomas' name, but said these things are done at the level of
officials and Chavan might not be personally responsible for
it.
When pointed out that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
was taking up the matter forcefully in Maharashtra, Chavan
merely said "I will reply to them in Mumbai when the state
assembly begins on Monday".
The sources said Chavan was asked to give a panel of
three names for consideration for the post of the Central
Vigilance Commissioner, which he had done.
Besides Thomas, then a serving Secretary, Chavan had
suggested names of two former government officers.