Ashok Chavan quits Congress, likely to join BJP

Mumbai: Senior Congress leader and Maharashtra former chief minister Ashok Chavan on Monday quit the primary membership of the party as well as his Assembly seat. He is likely to join the BJP on February 14. However, he said he has not taken any decision yet.

Chavan, who was authorised by the Congress to hold seat-sharing negotiations with the alliance partners, is the third prominent leader to exit the party in less than a month. Earlier, former Union minister Milind Deora had joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Maharashtra former minister Baba Siddique joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Some more Congress leaders are also set to quit the party and join the ruling parties before the Lok Sabha election.

Later, the 65-year-old Congress leader denied that he had taken any decision regarding joining the BJP. “I have been in the Congress since my birth. I worked for the party honestly till yesterday. But now I feel it is time to explore other options,” he said. “I need some time to think about my future course of action.”

Chavan was reportedly miffed with state Congress president Nana Patole who he felt did not give him due respect. According to sources, Chavan had raised the issue with the Congress high command and demanded a change of leadership in the state.

Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan expressed surprise and said Ashok Chavan was at a party meeting till 5 pm on Sunday. “It did not appear that he was upset with anything. We have no clue about what happened overnight. Only he can tell what were his compulsions or whether he was under any pressure from anyone.” Congress Legislative Party leader Balasaheb Thorat said Ashok Chavan wanted to continue the discussion on Monday.

The Congress has denied that any more of its MLAs will join Ashok Chavan. But the indications of Congress defections have been there for nearly two years now. In the Legislative Council elections held on June 20, 2022, several Congress legislators had cross-voted, resulting in the party losing the seat.

About 10 Congress MLAs, including Ashok Chavan, were not present in the Assembly during the trust vote moved by the Eknath Shinde government on July 4, 2022.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis did not confirm or deny the reports about Chavan’s induction into the BJP. “I heard about Ashok Chavan from the media. But the only thing I can say now is that several good leaders from the Congress are in touch with the BJP. Those leaders who are connected with the masses are feeling suffocated in the Congress. I will only say Aage aage dekhiye hota hai kya, (wait and watch what happens next),” he said.