Hours after former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan handed in his resignation from the primary membership of the Congress party to state Congress chief Nana Patole, former Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Nirupam revealed the reason behind Chavan’s decision to quit the grand old party.
"Ashok Chavan was definitely an asset for the party. Some are calling him a liability, some are holding ED responsible, all this is a hasty reaction. He was basically very upset with the working style of a leader from Maharashtra," Nirupam said in a post on 'X'.
The former president of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee also claimed that had his complaints been addressed by the party he would not have resigned.
"He (Chavan) had given this information to the top leadership from time to time. Had their complaints been taken seriously, this situation would not have happened," Nirupam added.
Heaping praises on the former Chief Minister, Nirupam said, "Ashok Chavan is resourceful, a skilled organiser, has a firm grasp on the ground and is a serious leader. When Bharat Jodo Yatra was in Nanded for five days last year, the entire leadership had seen his potential firsthand." "His leaving Congress is a big loss for us. No one will be able to compensate for it. The responsibility of taking care of them was ours alone," he added.
Ashok Chavan, on Monday, submitted his resignation to Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole.
There are whispers within political circles suggesting that Ashok Chavan was dissatisfied with the working methods of the current state Congress president.
Also, in the letter, Chavan mentioned his designation as a former MLA. The former MPCC president also served as MP of Lok Sabha from 1987 to 1989 and was re-elected to the lower house in May 2014.
He was the Vice President and General Secretary of the Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress Committee from 1986 to 1995. He served the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for three terms, starting in 1999 and ending in May 2014.
He served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra State from December 8, 2008, to November 9, 2010. On November 9, 2010, the Congress Party asked him to resign from office over corruption allegations relating to the Adarsh Housing Society scam.
(With Inputs from ANI)
