Maharashtra: Ashok Chavan for state, Devendra Fadnavis for Centre in future?
Vibha Sharma
Chandigarh, February 13
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday joined the BJP in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state party president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
Welcoming Chavan in the party, Fadnavis called him a “stalwart leader of Maharashtra who worked on both the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha.”
According to Fadnavis, Chavan had told him that he did not want any big post because he had served in several big posts and now wanted to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s works for the development of people.
“I have joined the BJP with the wish to contribute to the development work of the central government led by Narendra Modi. It is an unconditional move without asking for any post. It is a new innings for me after serving in politics for a long 38 years,” Chavan was also quoted as saying.
Is Chavan part of BJP’s ‘larger plan’
Speculations are that Chavan is getting a Rajya Sabha nomination from the BJP, a reason why he joined the party just a day after he left the Congress.
However, a section of political analysts believe that he may get the Rajya Sabha nomination but Chavan “appears to be a part of the BJP’s bigger plan, post 2024-Lok Sabha elections”.
“He may get Rajya Sabha now but the BJP would gain more with him in the state,” they add. The BJP is currently a part of a Mahayuti government in the state that includes NCP and the Shiv Sena.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the president of the Shiv Sena, and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads the National Congress Party, both belong to the Maratha community.
Analysts believe that Fadnavis, a Marathi Brahmin from Nagpur, may be brought to the Centre and included in the Cabinet if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is voted back to power.
“BJP has been working on social engineering based on OBC consolidation in the state. OBCs, estimated at around 52 per cent of the population, have been going with leaders like NCP’s now-ousted founder Sharad Pawar and Congress with leaders like late CM Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan’s father, late Shankarrao Chavan, also a former CM and Union Home Minister. The BJP does not have many Maratha leaders of similar stature,” they add.
Maratha politics
In those terms, for Marathas of the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions, Ashok Chavan is said to be an important name. His father Shankarrao Chavan is credited with Congress dominance in Nanded built over decades.
In 2014, Chavan won the Nanded Lok Sabha seat even though the party was reduced to two seats in the state. In 2019 he was defeated in the Lok Sabha but won the Assembly polls.
Chavan first became the CM in 2008, replacing Vilasrao Deshmukh after the Mumbai terror attacks. He stayed in the office after Congress’ 2009 win, only to resign in 2010 over involvement in the Adarsh Housing scam.
