IN ANOTHER setback to the Congress in Maharashtra, former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan quit the party on Monday and resigned as MLA too. Amid speculation that he would join the BJP, Chavan said he had not taken any decision yet. This is the third big exit from the state Congress unit in less than a month. Last month, former Union minister Milind Deora quit the party to join the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Last week, former Congress MLA Baba Siddique joined the NCP led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. AICC in-charge for Maharashtra Congress, Ramesh Chennithala, has called an urgent meeting of all senior party leaders in Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon. The party fears that a few more MLAs will join Chavan — four-five names are already doing the rounds. “It is my personal decision to quit the party and I am not a person who will make my grievances public. I have been with the Congress since birth and, till yesterday, I worked for the Congress honestly. But now it is time to look for other options,” said Chavan, who attended the Maharashtra Congress core committee meeting on Sunday afternoon. Asked about his next move, amid speculation that he would be fielded by the BJP for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, Chavan said he had not taken a decision yet and was not aware about the BJP’s working style with regard to giving Rajya Sabha tickets. “I have not spoken to any MLA to join me. I am not going to criticise anyone,” he said. Chavan’s decision comes days after the BJP-led government tabled a 'white paper' in Parliament on the economy under the Congress-led UPA government, which also mentioned the Adarsh housing society case. “Adarsh housing society scam: This case involved irregularities in allotment of apartments in a defence land project. It is at the trial stage,” the white paper said. Chavan stepped down as CM in 2010 for his alleged involvement in the Adarsh case. On Monday, Chavan said his decision to quit the Congress was not linked to the white paper. There has been speculation about Chavan’s exit from the Congress for a few years now. In July 2022, Chavan and 11 other MLAs did not turn up for the trust vote sought by the Eknath Shinde-led government. They later claimed that they got caught in traffic. In June 2022, when cross-voting cost the Congress Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council seats, fingers had been pointed at Chavan. Congress sources said Chavan wanted to become the state unit president and had expressed this to the party leadership. “However, the party leadership wanted to stick with an OBC face ahead of general elections,” said a senior party leader. “The Congress has given a lot to many leaders. Today, when the party is fighting to save democracy and the Constitution, it is unfortunate that leaders who have got everything are leaving the party and its ideology. Who is going where, for what? The public is watching them,” Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said. The BJP was cryptic about Chavan joining the party. “Many good leaders from the Congress are in touch with the BJP. The way the Congress is functioning, many of its leaders with mass base are feeling suffocated. Many of them are interested in joining the BJP. A few big leaders will definitely join the BJP in the coming days. I only want to say one thing today: Aage aage dekhiye, hota hai kya (wait and watch what happens),” Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. The son of former Union minister and chief minister Shankarrao Chavan, Ashok Chavan made his political debut in 1986 after being appointed as the general secretary of the Congress's Maharashtra unit.
