Maharashtra: Former Congress leader Ashok Chavan joins BJP in Mumbai

A day after he quit the Indian National Congress former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in MumbaiEarlier speaking to reporters Chavan said he will be joining the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party I am joining the BJP today at its office in Mumbai Today is the beginning of my new political career Chavan who quit the Congress on Monday saidAsked if he received any calls from senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi Chavan evaded a reply newswire PTI reportedThe former Maharashtra CM however maintained that he has not contacted any Congress worker or his supporters to join him during his induction into the BJPI will be officially joining the BJP at its office in Mumbai There will be some leaders along with me there There will be Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar among others he saidAshok Chavan 65 son of former Maharashtra CM S B Chavan on Monday underscored that his choice to depart from the Congress was independent and refrained from attributing specific reasons for his exitHis exit from the Congress came days after senior Maharashtra Congress leaders Baba Siddique and Milind Deora quit the party Chavan hails from Nanded district in Marathwada region He was also the state Congress chief during 201419He represented Bhokar assembly seat and is also the former MP from Nanded Lok Sabha constituencyMeanwhile Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray has raked up the Adarsh housing scam to target Chavan and said if the BJP sends him to the Rajya Sabha it will amount to disrespecting martyred soldiersAddressing a rally in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city on Monday Thackeray said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had earlier gone to Nanded Chavans home district and spoken about corruption committed by Ashok Chavan They had said Chavan disrespected families of the martyred soldiersBut if the prime minister sends him Chavan to Rajya Sabha it will amount to disrespecting our soldiers he saidIn the past the prime minister and Fadnavis dubbed Chavan a dealer and not a leader Thackeray claimedThey 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 the Rajya Sabha the former CM questionedThe backdrop of the Adarsh Building scam mentioned in a white paper tabled in Parliament last week a scandal that led to Chavans resignation as the states chief minister in 2010 has drawn attention as a potential factor in his departureChavan has denied the claimHe is an accused in the Adarsh housing society scam wherein a 31storey posh building in south Mumbai was constructed allegedly on land owned by the Defence Ministry without getting the requisite permissions and clearancesChavan is an accused under the Indian Penal Code provisions for criminal conspiracy and cheating and under the Prevention of Corruption Act Some of Chavans relatives had figured in the list of beneficiariesThe CBI in 2014 sought to delete Chavans name from the case but this was rejected both by the special CBI court and later by the Bombay High Court in 2015The matter is pending before the Supreme Court which in 2018 stayed proceedings in the case With inputs from agencies