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Ashok Chavan becomes 3rd ex-CM to return as minister
Former chief minister Ashok Chavan, 61, returned to the state Cabinet as a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government, becoming the third chief minister after Shivajirao
Former chief minister Ashok Chavan, 61, returned to the state Cabinet as a minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government, becoming the third chief minister after Shivajirao Nilangekar and Nayaran Rane to take up the responsibility as a minister after having served as a chief minister.
Elected from Bhokar constituency in Nanded, Chavan is a senior Congress leader with vast administrative experience. He served as the minister for revenue, industries and transport in successive Congress-led governments since 1999.
“It is a new beginning for me. I will work in the interest of the state and also try and contribute to the growth of the party which has given me the responsibility,” said Chavan.
He was picked for the post of the chief minister in 2008, after Vilasrao Deshmukh had to resign following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. In the 2009 Assembly elections, Chavan successfully led the Congress to victory and became the chief minister for a second time. He had to step down as a chief minister in 2010, following allegations of his involvement in alleged Adarsh housing scam. He was rehabilitated politically as he was given party ticket in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He won the election from Nanded Lok Sabha constituency, one of the two seats Congress won in 2014. In 2015, he was appointed as the president of Maharashtra Congress. Chavan handled the task of reviving the party organisation, which was in bad shape following successive defeats in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
However, the party could win only one Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Chavan then resigned as the state Congress chief. He returned to the Assembly, winning from his Bhokar constituency.
A prominent Maratha politician from Marathwada (central Maharashtra) region, his father SB Chavan, too, was the chief minister of Maharashtra. They are the only father-son duo in the state’s history to become chief ministers. Chavan has been inducted as a minister by the party leadership to maintain balance in the party in the state. Earlier, state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat was the only heavyweight in the party’s state unit who was a minister.
