The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan has quit the Congress party and his post as a member of the legislative assembly of the state.
His resignation letter to the Congress state committee chief Nana Patole says, simply, “I am resigning from the Congress party.”
Chavan met the state’s legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narvekar in the morning. He then posted on X that he has quit as MLA.
“Today i.e. on Monday, February 12, 2024, I have tendered my resignation as Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from 85-Bhokar Assembly Constituency to the Assembly Speaker Rahulji Narvekar,” he wrote.
It is speculated that he will be joining the Bharatiya Janata Party later today.
Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) leader Sanjay Raut wrote on X that he cannot believe that Chavan has left the Congress. “He was around until yesterday, discussing political issues. And today he has quit the party. Like Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, will Chavan also lay claim over the party symbol now? Anything is possible in this country,” he wrote.
Rohit Pawar, MLA of NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), said, “At that time when there is a real need to fight for an ideology, senior leaders are abandoning the very political ideology all their live and joining hands with the BJP. This is really unfortunate.”
Pawar added, “Since this attempt to break parties will continue, the real battle for identity and ideology will have to be fought by the common people and the people are ready for it.”
Chavan, who was sworn in to the chief minister’s post in 2008, had to step down in 2010 after he was named in the Adarsh cooperative housing society scam.
He is the son of former state chief minister Shankarrao Chavan.
Chavan has also represented his hometown and stronghold – Nanded – in the Lok Sabha between 2014 and 2019. In the 2014 polls, he was among the only two Congress leaders to win a seat in Maharashtra. He was made Congress state president in 2015. In 2019, however, he lost Nanded to BJP.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information comes in.