CWG chief Kalmadi sacked from political position

Indian ruling coalition party, Congress, axed Suresh Kalmadi as the secretary of its Parliamentary Party in the the wake of allegations of corruption in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games.

Kalmadi was the Chairman of Organising Committee of the sporting event.

"Suresh Kalmadi's resignation as Secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) has been accepted with immediate effect," All India Congress Committee General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said.

According to sources in Congress party, Kalmadi had been asked to put in his papers as CPP Secretary earlier. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Party.

The decision came on the opening day of the winter session of Indian Parliament in which opposition parties had threatened to raise the issue of alleged corruption in the Games-related projects.

Adarsh scam: Maharashtra CM Chavan quits

In another development, Ashok Chavan, the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra tendered his resignation pending an inquiry into a housing society scam in Mumbai.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi accepted Chavan's resignation on Tuesday morning. The decision to ask Chavan to step down came hours before the winter session of Parliament was set to commence with the Opposition threatening to raise the issue.