Mumbai, Feb 12, 2024: In a big blow to the Congress in Maharashtra months ahead of the general election and state polls, former chief minister and former MP Ashok Chavan resigned from the party’s primary membership amid reports that he was in talks with the BJP.
If he joined the BJP, this would be the second big blow to Congress in a month after another party leader Milind Deora dumped his party and switched to the saffron party. Deora’s family has been associated with the Congress for over five decades and his father Murli Dero was one of the tallest leaders of the state.
Chavan had succeeded Vilasrao Deshmukh as Maharashtra Chief Minister in December 2008 and was forced to resign in November 2010 in the wake of the Adarsh housing scam. He was president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) from 2014 to 2019.