Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan joined the BJP after a 38-year-stint in the Congress.
While addressing the media, minutes after joining the BJP, Chavan made an epic faux pas by mistakenly referring to Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar as “Mumbai Congress President”.
‘I thank Mumbai Congress president…,” Ashok Chavan said when he was immediately corrected by Devendra Fadnavis. The remark, clearly a slip of the tongue, was followed by a round of laughter from BJP supporters, including Fadnavis, who were at the event organised to welcome the senior leader into the saffron party.
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Apologising for the error later, Chavan said, “I have just joined (the BJP). Hence, the mistake. I am starting a new journey by joining the BJP after 38 years in the Congress.”
“It is my first press conference in the BJP office, please understand,” he said.
The heavyweight leader from the Nanded region said he has always been a part of “positive politics”. “The Prime Minister has taken a pledge for ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’. Sometimes, I was accused of not opposing him. But I have always done positive politics,” he said.
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The former Congress leader said he had set no terms for joining the BJP. “I will do what the party tells me to. I have asked for nothing. Nobody asked me to leave. This is my decision,” he said.
Chavan, on Monday (February 12), resigned from Congress and as a party MLA. His aide Amar Rajurkar, who resigned as MLC yesterday, also joined the BJP today. The former Chief Minister said he has not asked anyone to switch from the Congress to the BJP.