Mumbai: As expected, seasoned politician Ashok Chavan is set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, a day after resigning from the Congress. Chavan had been associated with the Congress since his childhood.
Chavan, aged 65, is a former two-term Chief Minister of Maharashtra and former president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. “I am making a new beginning today. I am joining the BJP. The Congress chapter is over now. I am not going to speak on it,” Deccan Herald quoted his as saying on Tuesday.
He stepped down as Congress Working Committee member and resigned as a member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Sources within the party suggest that several Members of the Legislative Assembly and office bearers of the Congress may also choose to align with him.
Chavan is scheduled to join the BJP in the presence of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule. He has represented the Nanded district of the Marathwada region in Maharashtra as a two-time MP and five-time MLA.
Ashok Chavan held office in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for three consecutive terms spanning from 1999 to May 2014. He served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from December 8, 2008, to November 9, 2010, before stepping down amidst allegations of corruption related to the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
Meanwhile, several Congress party leaders condemned the move, calling it a ‘dirty political’ game.
Party leader Prithviraj Chavhan told the media said, “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.”
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