Whether Ashok Chavan will join the NCP, Shinde Sena or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is unknown as of now. 
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Whether Ashok Chavan will join the NCP, Shinde Sena or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is unknown as of now. Ashok Chavan, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader, on Monday resigned from the primary membership of the grand old party. He sent his one-line resignation not only to Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nana Patole but also the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker.
"I hereby submit my resignation from primary membership of the Indian National Congress Party with immediate effect from noon on 12/02/2024," Chavan's resignation letter simply read. "I have tendered my resignation as Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 85-Bhokar Assembly Constituency to the Assembly Speaker Rahulji Narvekar," Chavan said after resigning from Congress.
Amarnath Rajurkar, former member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, whose term just ended, has also resigned from all posts in the party along with Ashok Chavan.
The development comes after other Congress heavyweights Baba Siddique and Milind Deora left the party. While Baba Siddique joined the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Deora joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shinde Sena. Whether Ashok Chavan will join the NCP, Shinde Sena or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is unknown as of now.
Sources state that the BJP may offer Chavan a Rajya Sabha seat. They also stated that 10-12 MLAs are in touch with Chavan and will switch sides in due course. Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis asked political pundits and watchers to wait and watch what will happen in the coming days.
He also claimed that the leaders who have a mass connect are feeling suffocated in the Congress party.
"I heard about Ashok Chavan from the media. But the only thing I can say now is that several good leaders from Congress are in touch with the BJP. Those leaders who are connected with the masses are feeling suffocated in Congress. I am confident that some big faces will join Congress. Wait and watch what will happen in the days to come," Fadnavis said.
Echoing Fadnavis' remarks, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that there is discord and internal fights in Maharashtra Congress. Bawankule added there is no leader and Rahul Gandhi is abusing the OBC community which, in his opinion, is why people are leaving the grand old party.
"Yes, if anyone wants to join BJP then they are welcome," he said.
Soon after this development, Congress MP and General Secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh in his post on X (formerly Twitter) took a jibe at the leaders who have left the grand old party in the recent past.
"When friends and colleagues leave a political party that has given them much --perhaps much more they deserved -- it is always a matter of anguish. But to those who are vulnerable, THAT Washing Machine will always prove more attractive than ideological commitment or personal loyalties," Ramesh said in his post.
"These betrayers don't realise that their exit opens up vast new opportunities to those whose growth they have always stunted," he further noted.
Talking about Chavan's exit from the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray said he was "surprised". "I am surprised about Ashok Chavan. He was participating in seat distribution until yesterday, and suddenly he switched. I think he has gone for Rajya Sabha. Everyone seems to be thinking of themselves," Thackeray said.
Son of state's former chief minister Late Shankarrao Chavan, Ashok Chavan was sworn in as the CM in 2008 after late Vilasrao Deshmukh stepped down, citing moral responsibility for the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.
In 2010, Chavan was forced to step down as Maharashtra CM after he was named in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam. In the following year, a Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said that the scam revealed that a group of select officials in plump posts could subvert rules and regulations to grab prime government land for personal benefit.
Besides his Chief Ministerial stint, Chavan has also represented his stronghold Nanded district in the Marathwada region in the Lok Sabha polls of 2014 and 2019. He was made the Congress state president in 2015.
Also Read: Former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique joins NCP after Congress exit
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