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Journalism of Courage
Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan claimed on Wednesday that Ashok Chavan, who left the Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party earlier this week, had initially demanded a deputy chief minister’s post in Maharashtra along with a high-profile ministry as a pre-condition to joining the BJP but finally settled on a Rajya Sabha nomination.
On Tuesday, former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan had formally joined the BJP, saying it was “not easy” to change parties after his 38-year association with the Congress. A day after he joined the BJP, Chavan, 66, was named by the party in its Rajya Sabha list from Maharashtra.
Prithviraj Chavan, who attended an award ceremony in Pune along with NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) supremo Sharad Pawar, said even the BJP workers haven’t liked this induction. “The event of his induction was to be held in New Delhi in J P Nadda’s presence. Later, it was shifted to Aurangabad in Amit Shah’s presence but the local RSS workers opposed that plan and it was to be cancelled. Finally, it happened in Mumbai. People don’t like such things,” said the Congress leader.
He also denied that several other leaders from Congress who are close to Ashok Chavan are on their way out. “This is not true. In a way, he (Ashok Chavan) has been pushed away from the state’s politics (with Rajya Sabha nomination). How will he protect others? I don’t think anyone will go with him,” he said.
Prithviraj Chavan conceded that Ashok Chavan’s sudden departure has thrown the MVA’s seat-sharing talks for the 2024 Lok Sabha election out of gear. “He was an important peg in the seat-sharing talks in the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Now we will have to resume the talks which are in advanced stages,” he added.
