The man who could be next Maharashtra BJP chief: Why Ravindra Chavan was appointed party’s working president

A senior leader said Chavan’s Maratha roots would also send out a strong message to the community, which has been in the limelight over the past three years due to the quota agitation led by Manoj Jarange-Patil.

Seen to be a close associate of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Dombivali MLA’s elevation came as a surprise to many within the party who believed he would be inducted into the Cabinet. Speculation about Chavan being entrusted with an important organisational role had gained momentum after he missed out on a ministerial berth while state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule made the cut.

Chavan has also received praise from Bawankule. “He is a loyal and committed karyakarta and does whatever work is assigned to him wholeheartedly and with no questions. This makes him acceptable to all within the organisation as well as party leaders,” he said.

Chavan forayed into local body politics during his student days and slowly rose up the ranks. He served as a corporator in the Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation in 2000 and was also the chairperson of the standing committee. In 2009, he first contested the Assembly elections from Dombivali, a seat he has retained since.

He also served as a minister in the first Fadnavis government between 2016 and 2019 and held key portfolios such as Ports, Medical Education, Information Technology, and Food and Civil Supplies. In the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Mahayuti government, he was the minister of the Public Works Department (excluding public undertakings) between 2022 and 2024.

Chavan ruffled feathers during his stint as PWD Minister when Khed MLA Ramdas Kadam of ally Shiv Sena termed him as a “useless minister” to highlight the non-completion of the Mumbai-Goa highway. “Even Lord Ram returned after 14 years in exile but the highway is showing no signs of completion,” Kadam had said.

Seen to be a streetsmart politician who knows when and when not to take up a fight against rivals, last December Chavan was entrusted with the responsibility of the party’s enrollment drive in the state, where he achieved the ambitious target of bringing 1.5 crore people into the BJP’s fold. “When the party is in power, organisational roles become very important due to the need for perfect coordination,” a senior BJP leader said, adding that Chavan’s style of working would ensure it happened.

With Chavan being entrusted with the party’s affairs in the 39 Assembly seats of the Konkan region, seen to be the stronghold of the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray, another leader pointed out that his elevation signals the BJP’s intent to make deep inroads in the region. “It also sends out a subtle message to Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, who has been exerting upmanship across Thane, Kalyan, Dombivali and Navi Mumbai,” the leader said.

Chavan was also one of the BJP leaders who had opposed the candidature of Shrikant Shinde, Kalyan MP and Deputy CM Shinde’s son, during last year’s Lok Sabha polls citing the junior Shinde’s “high handedness”.

In his new role, Chavan is likely to have his task cut out and will need to play a key role in rebuilding the party across the 355 talukas and 36 districts of the state. The “shat pratishat BJP (100% BJP)” goal will also likely hinge on his effort as the party aims to win the 2029 Assembly polls on their own without the need for allies.

The newly appointed working president has had his share of controversies too. In 2016, he left the BJP red-faced after he wrongly evoked former US President Abraham Lincoln who, he claimed, had picked a “piglet” up from the drain and cleaned it, to allude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Fadnavis uplifting Dalits.

As the video of his speech went viral, Chavan tried to control the damage and said his speech was edited. “I have never spoken a word against the (Dalit) community,” he said. The NCP, then undivided, did not take the incident too kindly and organised a “naming ceremony” in which a pig was named after Chavan.