“We knew that Chavan could quit the party as we were getting feedback from our party workers about his increasing closeness with some senior BJP leaders. But Chavan did not give any indication that he would leave as he was active in party meetings and made suggestions to strengthen its organisation,” a senior Congress leader said, adding that the party high command had also made him a member of the Central Working Committee.
Chavan is a second-generation Congress leader and his resignation has left the party without a prominent face in Marathwada. While the former chief minister has not said he is joining another party, speculations are rife about him jumping ship to join the BJP which will boost the party in Marathwada.
His father Congress stalwart Shankarrao Chavan was also a former CM. The family had brought the region under the Congress fold and their clout in the region ensured Congress’s winning streak in 15 of the 17 Lok Sabha elections. Ashok Chavan has been an MLA for five terms and a two-time MP, including in 2014.
Many now feel the bastion will fall with his exit.
He has twice served as Maharashtra’s CM before resigning in 2010 when his name cropped up in the Adarsh cooperative society scam.
In the 2019 assembly election, Congress weathered a strong BJP wave and won eight seats in Marathwada which helped the party take its tally to 44 seats. Chavan, who played a key role, won from Bhokar and helped other candidates, including Amit Deshmukh (Latur city), Dhiraj Deshmukh (Latur rural), Madhavrao Jawalkar (Hadgaon) from Nanded district, Mohan Hambarde (Nanded South), Raosaheb Anantpurkar (Deglur), Suresh Warpudkar (Pathri) from Parbhani district and Kailash Gorantyal from Jalna district win their seats.
In the past, Chavan had denied rumours that he would leave the Congress, but the talk has been in the air for a while. In April 2023, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Shirsat from Aurangabad West was among the first to claim that Chavan would quit the Congress and join the BJP.
BJP MP from Nanded Prataprao Chikhalikar on several occasions had publicly said that Chavan was all set to join his party. Chikhalikar had reiterated it recently on December 22, 2023.
He said that Chavan could not get funds for Nanded district’s loss-incurring Bhaurao sugar mill during the MVA government rule, but the mill got Rs 150 crore from the BJP-Sena-NCP govt. Chikhalikar said his leaving the Congress was a welcome move.
Calls For Thorat To Head State Congress
Some Congress MLAs on Monday said that at this crucial juncture the party high command should reappoint Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat as the party’s state chief replacing Nana Patole. “Thorat played a big role in 2019 assembly polls in increasing the Congress’s seats from 42 in the 2014 polls to 44. Just before the election, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, a senior Congress leader and leader of opposition, had joined the BJP. Thorat had worked to rejuvenate the rank and file to improve Congress’s performance in that assembly election,” a Congress MLA said.
