Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 12 (ANI): Amid the speculations that former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan will join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Clyde Crasto said that if any corrupt leader joins the BJP they get cleaned in their ‘washing machine’. Earlier today, the former Chief Minister resigned from the Congress party’s primary membership.
“It is a sad day that he (Ashok Chavan) left the Congress. The party gave everything to him. But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was putting pressure on him. If you go to the BJP, you get cleaned in their washing machine,” Crasto said.
“It is the BJP that said that Chavan is allegedly involved in the Adarsh Housing Society scam. They are trying to break the party. The BJP wanted to make a ‘Congress-free India’, but they themselves are turning into ‘Congress-associated’ BJP,” he alleged. The NCP leader further added that the INDIA bloc will stay strong.
“The INDIA bloc will stay strong. If Ashok Chavan has left, a new leader will join the party and assume his responsibilities,” Clyde Crasto said. Chavan has submitted his resignation to Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole.
Also, in the letter, Chavan mentioned his designation as a former MLA.The former MPCC president also served as MP of Lok Sabha from 1987 to 1989 and was re-elected to the lower house in May 2014.
Meanwhile, in response to the speculation that he might join the BJP, he said, “I will tell you in 48 hours.” He was the Vice President and General Secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress Committee during the period 1986 to 1995.
He served the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for three terms starting in 1999 and ending in May 2014. He has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra state from December 8, 2008, to November 9, 2010. On November 9, 2010, the Congress Party asked him to resign from office over corruption allegations relating to the Adarsh Housing Society scam.In the 2014 general elections, Chavan was elected from the Nanded constituency but lost the seat to Pratap Patil Chikhalikar of the BJP in 2019.
Chavan comes from an influential political family. He is the son of Shankarrao Chavan, a former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Union Home Minister.
Chavan is the third big name to desert the Congress ship in Maharashtra. First to go was former South Mumbai MP Milind Deora followed by former MLA Baba Siddique.When questioned if Chavan was going to join the BJP, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis gave a cryptic reply. “Several tall leaders of other parties want to join the BJP. Especially, several Congress leaders are in touch with us because of the behaviour of the senior leaders. They are feeling suffocated in their party…Who all are in our contact that will be revealed soon. Aage aage dekhiye hota hain kya.” Chavan who represents Bhokar, Nanded as an MLA was reported to have severe differences with state party chief Nana Patole. (ANI)
