"A dirty political game by BJP...": Prithviraj Chavan after former Maharashtra CM
Feb 12, 2024
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 12 : After former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan resigned from the Congress party's primary membership, party leader Prithviraj Chavan claimed that it is a 'dirty political' game by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Earlier today, Ashok Chavan resigned from the primary membership of the grand-old-party.
"Our senior colleague Ashok Chavan has resigned from the party and also as the MLA. It's a sad decision. This had been talked about for a long time. We didn't think he would make this decision. He was made the state CM on two occasions. What went wrong, who was he upset about--only he will tell about this. This is very tragic. All members of the Congress Legislative Party are together. BJP leaders are spreading rumours that some people are in touch with them," Chavan said while addressing the media.
"It is really surprising. This hasn't happened in Maharashtra before. It is totally a dirty political game by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)," he added.
Ashok Chavan, earlier today, 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 MPCC 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.
In the 2014 general elections, Chavan was elected from the Nanded constituency but lost the seat in 2019 Pratap Patil Chikhalikar of the BJP.
Chavan comes from an influential political family. He is the son of Shankarrao Chavan, a former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Union Home Minister.
Chavan is the third big name to desert the Congress ship in Maharashtra. First to go was former South Mumbai MP Milind Deora, followed by former MLA Baba Siddique.
Meanwhile, when questioned if Chavan was going to join the BJP, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis gave a cryptic reply.
"Several tall leaders of other parties want to join the BJP. Especially, several Congress leaders are in touch with us because of the behaviour of the senior leaders. They are feeling suffocated at their party. Who all are on our contact list? That will be revealed soon. Aage aage dekhiye hota hain kya".
Chavan, who represents Bhokar, Nanded, as an MLA, was reported to have severe differences with state party chief Nana Patole.
The resignation came as a big blow to the Congress party ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.