Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan quit the Congress party on 12 February 2024. Report says he may join BJP soon but he denies and clarifies he will decide his next political moves in 2-3 days.
Former CM quits
Ashok Chavan is one of the prominent Congress leaders in Maharashtra and served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2008 to 2010. He is the son of former Chief Minister Rao Shankar Chavan, who served as a Chief Minister of Maharashtra twice. Being an influential leader in the Congress, he quit the Congress party today (Monday). He has written his resignation letter to State Congress President Nana Patoli.
Ashok Chavan, who is a member of the Legislative Assembly, has recently met the Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar and gave his resignation as an MLA from the 85-Bhokar constituency. Ashok Chavan himself confirmed this through his X social media post. He also said that he served for Congress honestly since his birth till yesterday and now it’s time to explore other things. He added that he will decide his next political moves in 2 to 3 days and denied any decision to join BJP.
BJP’s reaction
Meanwhile, BJP senior leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “Many members of the opposition want to join the BJP. Many people from the Congress party are in touch with us. Because they are suffocated in the Congress party”.
Setbacks for Congress
With Lok Sabha elections coming up in two months and state assembly elections by October this year, former CM Ashok Chavan’s defection is seen as a major setback for the Congress party.
Earlier in Maharashtra Milind Deora, who belongs to the Congress party, recently left the Congress party and joined the Shiv Sena party led by Eknath Shinde and Baba Siddiqui from Congress joined the party of Ajit Pawar.
