Picture : ANI / X
Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan after quitting the Congress has now joined the Bharatiya Janata Party . Later speaking to ANI Chavan said, “Today it’s a new beginning of my political career. I am formally joining the BJP in their office today…I am hopeful that we will work for the constructive development of Maharashtra.”
Chavan (65) was inducted into the BJP at the party office in Mumbai in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Mumbai party unit head Ashish Shelar and cabinet minister Girish Mahajan.
Though Chavan denied the claim, it is being said that the mention of Adarsh Building scam in the white paper tabled in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week might have been a potential factor in his exit.
On Ashok Chavan’s BJP switch, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP, Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted on X ,
Adarsh Scam is no longer a scam
The MSC Bank scam is no longer a scam
Maharashtra Sadan scam is no longer a scamWhy? Because these ‘scamsters’ are now in Bhrastachari Jodo Party aka BJP
— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) February 12, 2024
Reacting Chavan move, former Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Nirupam claimed that Chavan was upset with the working style of a leader from Maharashtra.
‘Ashok Chavan was definitely an asset for the party. Some are calling him a liability, some are holding ED responsible, all this is a hasty reaction. He was basically very upset with the working style of a leader from Maharashtra,’ Nirupam said in a post on ‘X’.
The former president of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee also claimed that had his complaints been addressed by the party he would not have resigned.
‘He (Chavan) had given this information to the top leadership from time to time. Had their complaints been taken seriously, this situation would not have happened,’ Nirupam added.
Heaping praises on the former Chief Minister, Nirupam said, “Ashok Chavan is resourceful, a skilled organiser, has a firm grasp on the ground and is a serious leader. When Bharat Jodo Yatra was in Nanded for five days last year, the entire leadership had seen his potential firsthand.”
“His leaving Congress is a big loss for us. No one will be able to compensate for it. The responsibility of taking care of them was ours alone,” he added.
Ashok Chavan, earlier , submitted his resignation to Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole. Also, in the letter, Chavan mentioned his designation as a former MLA.
The former Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president also served as MP of Lok Sabha from 1987 to 1989 and was re-elected to the lower house in May 2014.
He was the vice president and general secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress Committee from 1986 to 1995. He served the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for three terms, starting in 1999 and ending in May 2014. He served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra State from December 8, 2008, to November 9, 2010. On November 9, 2010, the Congress Party asked him to resign from office over corruption allegations relating to the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
