Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a day after quitting Congress, ending his 38-year association with the grand old party.
The 65-year-old Chavan was warmly welcomed into the BJP camp at the party's Mumbai office in the presence of key leaders, including Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Chavan's resignation gave another blow to the Congress just days after Baba Siddique and Milind Deora quit the party. The saffron party is likely to nominate the former chief minister to the Rajya Sabha.
“It was a difficult decision for me. My association with the Congress was long. After 38 years of my political career, switching from Congress to BJP was not easy. After a lot of deliberations, I took the decision keeping the interests of my district Nanded, Maharashtra state and nation in mind,” Chavan reportedly said at the BJP headquarters on Tuesday.
However, the opposition was quick to rake of the Adarsh Housing Scam to target Ashok Chavan. Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said if the BJP sends Chavan to Rajya Sabha, it will amount to disrespecting martyred soldiers.
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What Is Adarsh Housing Scam?
Ashok Chavan’s name has been linked to the Adarsh Housing Society scam from 2011 where he had to resign from the chief minister’s position after his name cropped up in the case.
In the Adarsh Housing Society scam, a 31-storey apartment complex in South Mumbai, made for 1999 Kargil war heroes and war widows, was fraudulently handed to bureaucrats and relatives of politicians violating norms.
The building was originally meant to be a six-storey and estimated to cost around Rs 8 crore in 2010. However, the building was made 31-storey and allegedly bought at a tenth of the price in the names of proxy owners.
The names of then Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan, municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak and others had cropped up while the scam was probed by several agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Chavan’s relatives, including his mother-in-law, allegedly owned three flats in the Adarsh Society. The CBI took over the investigation and registered an FIR in 2011 naming 14 people including Chavan for criminal conspiracy and corruption.
The Congress, which was in power in Maharashtra during that time, made Chavan resign from office in 2010 after the scam garnered attention.
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Centre’s White Paper Mentions Adarsh Scam
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who tabled a 'white paper on the Indian economy' in the Lok Sabha last week, mentions Adarsh housing society scam among the alleged UPA’s failings during the Congress-led rule from 2004 to 2014.
The white paper mentions the Adarsh society scam among the corruption cases listed by Sitharaman under Part 2 titled ‘Pervasive Corruption’ and is listed among the high-profile cases during the UPA rule.
How Did Parties Respond?
Chavan’s joining the BJP was met with a series of reactions from opposition parties in Maharashtra including Sharad Pawar’s NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT).
Uddhav Thackeray took potshots at the BJP saying, “The Prime Minister and Fadnavis had in the past dubbed Chavan a 'dealer and not a leader'.”
"They had termed the Adarsh housing scam as disrespect to soldiers. I want to ask the PM if he is going to send the person (Chavan) who has disrespected martyred soldiers and their families to Rajya Sabha?" Thackeray remarked.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh without naming Ashok Chavan said that an exit by betrayers opens up new opportunities to those whose growth they have always stunted.
“When friends and colleagues leave a political party that has given them much - perhaps much more (than) they deserved - it is always a matter of anguish,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
“But to those who are vulnerable, THAT Washing Machine will always prove more attractive than ideological commitment or personal loyalties,” he added.
How Chavan’s Entry Into BJP Benefits Saffron Camp?
Chavan hails from Nanded district in Marathwada region. His father Late Shankarrao Chavan was also the chief minister of Maharashtra.
He stepped down as chief minister in 2010 following allegations of involvement in the Adarsh housing scam in Mumbai. He was also state Congress chief during 2014-19.
Devendra Fadnavis said that after Chavan's entry into the saffron camp, the party will become stronger in Maharashtra, especially the Marathwada region.
“Ashok Chavan is a very seasoned, senior and experienced leader. He has played an important role as a Lok Sabha MP in the Centre and as MLA in the state Legislative Assembly. Chavan was a chief minister of Maharashtra twice,” Devendra Fadnavis said.