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"Adarsh Housing Society Scam: This case involved irregularities in allotment of apartments in a defence land project. It is at the trial stage," was a prominent point under the 'Pervasive Corruption' section of the 'White Paper' presented by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Parliament last week.
The scam that rocked the Congress in Maharashtra in 2010 cost Ashok Chavan his chief-ministership, leading to investigations by central agencies that are sub-juidice till date.
One of the tallest state leaders, Chavan who quit the party on Monday, has now joined the list of 'born Congressmen' jumping ship to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Nevertheless, it is not just a big blow for the Maharashtra Congress, but also for an embattled Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance that has already been on wobbly grounds with the vertical splits in the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the past two years.
A closer look at 4 key aspects of Ashok Chavan's exit:
Chavan's exit comes at a crucial point in the Maratha and Marathwada-centric politics underway in the state. For the Marathas of the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions, Ashok Chavan is a name that resonates.
Since 1967, the Congress has lost the Nanded Lok Sabha seat only four times to the Janata Party/BJP (1977, 1989, 2004 & 2019). The Nanded Lok Sabha has six constituencies — Bhokar, Nanded North, Nanded South, Naigaon, Deglur, and Mukhed.
The Congress has never lost the Bhokar seat in close to six decades, with the seat also having been represented twice by Shankarrao Chavan, Ashok Chavan's father, two-time chief minister of the state, and former home minister of India.
"His entry will benefit us in Marashtra and Marathwada," Fadnavis said. "We know where to take Ashokrao's help, we will take it where it's appropriately needed," he added.
Speaking of a dent in the Congress at the state level, Chavan was one of the few prominent faces left. Barring the alleged Adarsh Housing Society scam, he claimed a clean record.
Since Sharad Pawar broke away and formed the NCP in 1999, the Congress got its highest tally in the Assembly (82) under the leadership of Chavan in 2009, merely a year after taking over as the chief minister.
In 2014, Chavan won the Nanded Lok Sabha seat while the party was reduced to just two seats in the state, its worst tally ever. The adjacent seat of Hingoli that Rajiv Satav won was also credited to Chavan's political clout. Hence, his defeat in the 2019 general elections came as a shocker.
After specifically denying any talks with the BJP while quitting the Congress on Monday, Chavan on Tuesday made the much predicted move to the saffron party.
Clearly, a leader as prominent as Chavan would have carefully thought out the move to the BJP with a fair bargain.
With Eknath Shinde, a key Maratha face openly backing activist Manoj Jarange Patil's demands for reservation for the community, the BJP, too, is looking to score brownie points with the community in Marathwada and Vidarbha where the party has a weaker hold compared to other regions.
"Who will be nominated for Rajya Sabha and who won't be is decided by the central leadership of the BJP," Fadnavis said when quizzed about it in the press briefing alongside Chavan on Tuesday.
With the BJP being the single largest party in the state, key positions and responsibilities for Chavan in its functioning are also imminent.
What will be challenging, though, is the problem of plenty that the ruling Mahayuti has been dealing with since Ajit Pawar joined the government.
Moreover, with Jarange Patil's campaign already having weaved a 'Fadnavis is anti-Maratha' perception, it remains uncertain how Maratha voters from the Nanded region would perceive Chavan's move to the saffron party under Fadnavis' leadership.
The message, meanwhile, the BJP is furthering is that even the tallest of the leaders in the Congress cannot be retained by the party.
After vertical splits in the Sena and the NCP, the Congress emerged as the largest Opposition party in Maharashtra with many state leaders seeing it as an opportunity to regain its footing.
Even before Chavan announced his decision, the BJP is already started furthering the narrative that more and more Congress leaders now want to come under PM Narendra Modi's leadership, and that the MVA was always an 'unnatural and unsustainable' alliance.
"The Congress has many good leaders who have a connect with the people. But the way the Congress has been functioning for the past few years, many feel suffocated. Hence, many of them from across the country are joining the BJP and many more will come. I would just say — wait and watch," Fadnavis said.
"The Election Commission handed over the Shiv Sena and the BJP to the thieves. They may give the Congress to Ashok Chavan now," former CM and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray said, adding that Chavan is "at the BJP's doorstep only to hide the Adarsh scam."
"The High Court has decided in our favour in that matter," Chavan told the media on Tuesday.
The rift brings back the focus to the infighting within the state Congress unit that came out in the open exactly a year ago, with reports of several prominent leaders having a rift with state party chief Nana Patole.
Chavan, when quizzed about issues within the state unit on Monday, gave a cryptic reply.
Soon after his resignation, Patole on Monday took to X and called the move "unfortunate."
"Congress party has given a lot to many leaders. Today, when the Congress party is fighting to save the constitution and democracy, it is unfortunate that leaders who have got everything are leaving the Congress party and ideology," Patole said.
"Politics is a means to service. I have mentioned earlier that I don't want to make personal remarks against anybody. Yes, there were people who said certain things, passed taunts, some also supported me. That is alright. I have never made personal attacks against anybody and I will not in future either," Chavan said on Tuesday.
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Published: 13 Feb 2024,07:00 AM IST