After the ex chief minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan left the Congress to join the BJP, party insiders suggest that the veteran could make as many as eight legislators break away from Congress.
A Congress leader in the know said, “The Rajya Sabha will not be held for now so there is no worry of poaching. Ramesh Chennithala (Maharashtra Pradesh in-charge) met all the legislators and talked to all of them. The threat was for Rajya Sabha elections. Now it has to be seen when Chavan holds an event, it has to be seen how many legislators will go with him.”
Congress spokesperson in Maharashtra, Yuvraj Mohite said to The Sunday Guardian, “BJP is trying to corner Congress from every possible way and he left at this point of time when the party needed him. But it also shows what his stature is, these are the times when we come to know about a person’s stature. When it is the time to fight, he switched sides and became coward. He was afraid that he could go to jail. There are so many people who have been to jail, like Sanjay Raut. But Chavan had fear that he will be sent to jail. Number two was that he was thirsty for a position.”
Mohite added, “He is a veteran, the party gave him so much, gave him so many positions and gave him the whole state to look after. He was there in all seat sharing talks and when he would say something, everyone would listen to him. He is a big leader. There is a shock that party has faced but we should know what is the reason behind it. There were accusations over Adarsh scam and party stood by him that time. The reachout to the Congress leaders from the BJP is seen to have come after BJP surveys showed the saffron camp winning fewer Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra as compared to their 2019 general election numbers. Party insiders suggest that the BJP is not getting expected results in the surveys they have been conducting, therefore after splitting Shiv Sena, they splintered the NCP yet even after that the surveys are showing no improvement in their electoral prospects, that is the reason they are trying to poach Congress leaders. Moreover, BJP’s internal survey also seen to have suggested that the BJP led alliance could win around 22 Lok Sabha seats and MVA is reckoned to win 26 seats.