Maharashtra: Former Congress leader Ashok Chavan joins BJP in Mumbai

Former Congress leader Ashok Chavan addresses the media outside his residence, at Churchgate, in Mumbai, Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. PTI Photo

A day after he quit the Indian National Congress, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Mumbai.

Earlier, speaking to reporters, Chavan said he will be joining the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. "I am joining the BJP today at its office in Mumbai. Today is the beginning of my new political career," Chavan, who quit the Congress on Monday, said.

Asked if he received any calls from senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Chavan evaded a reply, newswire PTI reported.

The former Maharashtra CM, however, maintained that he has not contacted any Congress worker or his supporters to join him during his induction into the BJP.

"I will be officially joining the BJP at its office in Mumbai. There will be some leaders along with me there. There will be Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar among others," he said.

Ashok Chavan (65), son of former Maharashtra CM S B Chavan, on Monday underscored that his choice to depart from the Congress was independent and refrained from attributing specific reasons for his exit.

His exit from the Congress came days after senior Maharashtra Congress leaders Baba Siddique and Milind Deora quit the party. Chavan hails from Nanded district in Marathwada region. He was also the state Congress chief during 2014-19.

He represented Bhokar assembly seat and is also the former MP from Nanded Lok Sabha constituency.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray has raked up the Adarsh housing scam to target Chavan and said if the BJP sends him to the Rajya Sabha, it will amount to disrespecting martyred soldiers.

Addressing a rally in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city on Monday, Thackeray said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier gone to Nanded (Chavan's home district) and spoken about corruption committed by Ashok Chavan. They had said Chavan disrespected families of the martyred soldiers."

"But if the prime minister sends him (Chavan) to Rajya Sabha, it will amount to disrespecting our soldiers," he said.

In the past, the prime minister and Fadnavis dubbed Chavan a "dealer and not a leader", Thackeray claimed.

"They had termed the Adarsh housing scam as disrespect to soldiers. I want to ask the PM if he is going to send the person (Chavan) who has disrespected martyred soldiers and their families to the Rajya Sabha?" the former CM questioned.

The backdrop of the Adarsh Building scam mentioned in a white paper tabled in Parliament last week, a scandal that led to Chavan's resignation as the state's chief minister in 2010, has drawn attention as a potential factor in his departure.

Chavan has denied the claim.

He is an accused in the Adarsh housing society scam wherein a 31-storey posh building in south Mumbai was constructed allegedly on land owned by the Defence Ministry without getting the requisite permissions and clearances.

Chavan is an accused under the Indian Penal Code provisions for criminal conspiracy and cheating and under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Some of Chavan's relatives had figured in the list of beneficiaries.

The CBI in 2014 sought to delete Chavan's name from the case but this was rejected both by the special CBI court and later by the Bombay High Court in 2015.

The matter is pending before the Supreme Court which in 2018 stayed proceedings in the case. (With inputs from agencies)