In the Ashok Chavan-Devendra Fadnavis meeting, a hidden political message

A section of leaders within the BJP is optimistic and keeping its fingers crossed. “After Ghulam Nabi Azad’s decision to quit Congress, anything can happen,” a senior Maharashtra BJP leader said, pointing towards the possibility of some more Congress leaders across the country, including Maharashtra, mending fences with BJP.

“Just wait and watch,” a senior BJP functionary, requesting anonymity, said. “Let us not jump to conclusions,” he said, refusing to admit or deny the rumours making the rounds.

Another senior BJP leader, however, was quick to add, “Those who are worried about their political career in Congress are likely to explore better options. So, a lot of things can happen in the coming months.”

On his part, Chavan has dismissed claims of his proximity to BJP as “baseless”. “In Maharashtra, it is a culture to pay a visit to each other’s house during Ganesh festival. It has nothing to do with politics,” the former Maharashtra chief minister said, adding that he was in the Congress and would participate in its Bharat Jodo Andolan.

Conversations with political leaders suggest that the speculations are more rife in Congress circles as several Congress leaders in Maharashtra suspect Chavan’s political moves and are concerned over the party’s future too.

Leaders point out that during the legislative council elections in June, at least seven Congress MLAs indulged in cross-voting to help BJP candidates. This also resulted in Congress’ Dalit candidate Chandrakant Handore’s loss. Although the Congress central leadership sought a detailed report on the development, no action was taken against the seven MLCs.

In another instance, a group of 11 MLAs led by Ashok Chavan did not vote during Eknath Shinde’s confidence motion, thus giving the BJP-Shinde faction a thumping victory during the trust vote. The BJP-Shinde alliance government polled 164 votes, whereas, the Opposition polled just 99 votes. While some among those who failed to vote said they got delayed due to traffic, others said they thought the floor test would be after the speeches. Notwithstanding the explanations given by each of these 11 Congress members, the development exposed their non-seriousness.

How could Ashok Chavan, who was a former chief minister and Cabinet minister, not realise the seriousness of the trust vote, was a question many within the Congress party asked then. Was he trying to break ice with the BJP, they are now wondering.

“The matter related to the Adarsh housing scam in which Chavan was accused of alleged corruption is still under CBI scanner. The case is still pending in the Supreme Court,” a BJP insider pointed out.

Political managers in BJP indicate that the developments could be linked to weakening of the Congress and leaders looking for alternatives. “The Congress without a strong leader at the centre does not instill confidence in the cadre. So, the possibility of Congress leaders looking for credible alternatives cannot be ruled out,” a source said.

That Fadnavis and Chavan chose to meet at Ashish Kulkarni’s residence has not gone unnoticed. A master strategist who worked behind the scenes to give BJP a victory in both the Rajya Sabha and state legislative council elections, Kulkarni was once close to Shiv Sena and had even drafted the organisation’s Constitution. Later, he joined the Congress where he worked in close association with Rahul Gandhi’s team. He subsequently moved to the BJP and played coordinator between the rebel Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the BJP.