Ashok Chavan Likely To Join BJP on Tuesday, A Day After Quitting Congress

A day after quitting the Congress, former Maharastra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is all set to join the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) on Tuesday, claim sources. Chavan had claimed on Monday that he will announce his next move soon, indicating that he had no intentions of retiring from politics. There are speculations of large scale defections from Congress, following Chavan. Chavan’s exit from the grand old party came within weeks of Milind Deora and Baba Siddique leaving the party. 

A three time MLA, Chavan was He the Vice President and General Secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress Committee from 1986 to 1995. He became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for a brief period between December 8, 2008, to November 9, 2010. On November 9, 2010, he resigned as was asked by the Congress party after his name came under the scanner over corruption allegations relating to the Adarsh Housing Society scam. “But Chavan continued to enjoy his own popularity and his his own ground cadre. He leaving Congress means there would be more following him. There are several names doing rounds, including those of sitting MLAs”, a congress leader from Maharastra, not willing to be named. 

Congress officially has called it a sad decision taken by Chavan and allegedly under pressure. Congress referred to him as one of the tallest leaders in the state. “Ashok Chavan was one of the tallest leaders of the Congress. He would have never left the party but for the pressure brought on him by the BJP through ED and I-T raids,” said state Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe. Former Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Nirupam, however, 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," Mr Nirupam said in a post on 'X'.

Congress sources claim that Ashok Chavan is linked with four sugar factories, all of them, incidentally were raided by enforcement directorate and income tax recently. While the central agencies haven’t issued any official statement of anything averse about those factories or the roads they pursued, yet senior Maharastra Congress leaders fear if that has acted as a pressure on the former chief minister. “I don’t know the exact reason behind his leaving the party. I don’t know what pressure he was under… it is a setback for us. Whenever any leader leaves, the party suffers a jolt”, said Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. Ashok Chavan had sent his one line resignation letter to Pradesh Congress chief Nana Patole on Monday stating he tendered his resignation from the primary membership of the party. He had later also resigned from the post of the MLA.