Shocking the Congress, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Shankarrao Chavan quit the party, and also as MLA, amid speculation of many other senior leaders planning to follow suit, here on Monday.
Chavan submitted his resignation to the state Congress President Nana Patole.
Sparking hectic political activity, Chavan, 66, called on Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar this morning before going incommunicado.
A few hours later Chavan’s resignation letter surfaced, he changed his profile on X and then tweeted details that he has quit the Congress.
In his letter, he has also written by hand ‘former’ (maaji) MLA from Bhokar Assembly constituency, but has not cited any reasons for his move.
Soon after the developments, Patole has air-dashed to Chhattisgarh to meet Rahul Gandhi on his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and then will go to New Delhi to discuss the issue with party bigwigs on Chavan’s abrupt decision.
Simultaneously, political circles were agog with conjectures of the probability of several other legislators and leaders following in Chavan’s footsteps.
This is the third major ‘leak’ to rock the Congress in the New Year, with more in the pipeline.
On January 14, former Union minister Milind M. Deora dumped the Congress to join Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and senior leader and ex-MLA Baba Ziauddin Siddique quit to join Nationalist Congress Party led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.
Chavan’s move evoked sharp reactions from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders including Shiv Sena-UBT President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray, Congress state President Nana Patole, Congress’ Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Vijay Wadettiwar and Shiv Sena-UBT’s Leader of Opposition (Council) Ambadas Danve, Sanjay Raut and Priyanka Chaturvedi, both MPs, Atul Londhe and others form the three allies.
The state Congress leaders are meeting this afternoon to discuss the ramifications of the unfolding political situation and brace for more shocks in the coming days at various levels.
Hailing from a leading political family of Nanded, Chavan was the state CM from December 2008-November 2010, and had quit after he faced allegations in the infamous Adarsh Society scam.
'My name is the guarantee of security in the country', PM Modi says in Karnataka
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that his name is the guarantee of security in the country, adding it was his primary duty to protect the citizens of the nation.
9 held for gang rape of minors in Meghalaya
Nine persons were arrested by the police in connection with the rape of minor girls in the South West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, officials said on Sunday.
Indian Coast Guard apprehends Pakistani boat with huge consignment of narcotics
In a major success, the Indian Coast Guard, following an overnight aerial-maritime joint operation with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), on Sunday apprehended a Pakistan boat in the Arabian Sea, west of Gujarat's Porbandar, and seized a large haul of narcotics.
Decision to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya should have been taken on next day of Independence, PM Modi says in K'taka
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the decision to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya should have been taken the very next day after the country achieved Independence in 1947.
Rahul slams BJD-BJP in Odisha rally, says both in collusion to benefit few corporates
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, stepping up the party’s campaign in Odisha on Sunday lashed out at the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government and the opposition BJP while accusing them of having ‘married’ each other for personal gains and befooling the public.
PM Modi has already scored a century in first two phases of LS polls: Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already scored a century of seats in the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls.
Govt extends shutdown of schools in Tripura till May 1, heat wave alert extends
In view of the intense heat wave, the Tripura government has announced an extension of shutdown of all government aided schools and privately managed schools till May 1 next.
Despite having a woman CM, females in West Bengal most unsafe: JP Nadda
BJP national president J. P. Nadda on Sunday launched a blistering attack on the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, saying that despite having a woman chief minister, females in the state are most unsafe.