Congress leader Ashok Chavan not to take part in MVA's protest march due to prior commitment

Mumbai: Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan said he will not be able to take part in Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) protest march against the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in the state on Saturday due to a prior commitment.

In a tweet, Chavan said he extends his support to the morcha, but he will not be able to participate in it due to a scheduled wedding event in Nanded. He added that his wife Amita Chavan will take part in the protest march.

Ashok Chavan, who was the chief minister of the state between 2008 and 2010, was among the few Congress MLAs who were absent during the trust vote of the Eknath Shinde government in June this year.

The MVA allies - Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress - are taking out the protest march in Mumbai against the "insults" of the state's icons like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, "atrocities' against Marathi-speakers in border areas of Karnataka as well as industrial projects being taken out of the state, among other things, the leaders of these parties have said.

The march will be held between J J Hospital and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in south Mumbai.