Amitha Reji George, Pune
On February 12, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan resigned from the Congress party’s primary membership. Various news sources say he is likely to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which earned him a Rajya Sabha nomination.
Mr Chavan gave his resignation to Nana Patole, the head of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. The former congress leader met with the speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Rahul Narwekar, earlier in the day and tendered his resignation to the house.
Mr Chavan later posted on X (former Twitter), Today, I have submitted my resignation as the 85-Bhokar Assembly Constituency MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) to the Assembly Speaker Rahulji Narvekar.
Mr Chavan, later, told a media person that he had not decided to join any party yet. He would clear his stand on joining a party after two days. Ashok Chavan, the son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Shankar Chavan, is well known in the Nanded area. The Congress might face issues due to his move in the upcoming elections. This is all taking place against the challenging electoral landscape that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) would face, constituting Congress, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction, and NCP’s Sharad Pawar camp. Congressmen said that Mr Chavan’s conflicts with state party president Nana Patole regarding candidate selection may have had a massive impact on his decision to switch sides.
Ashok Chavan’s political career has been eventful. He began his career in Congress as a student leader and advanced to important positions such as Chief of the Maharashtra Congress and Member of the Congress Working Committee. He has been a member of both Houses of the state legislature and has served as MP from Nanded twice. Following his tenure as a state minister, he was selected to take over as Chief Minister following Vilasrao Deshmukh’s resignation amidst the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. After the 2009 state polls, Congress decided to keep him in the top position. The tenure was short, though Mr Chavan was compelled to resign due to accusations of corruption with the Adarsh Housing Society Fraud.