![\"Ashok](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2024-03\/5jmu8h_ashok-chavan_625x300_06_March_24.jpg\"\/ "\\"Ashok")
<\/div>\nAshok Chavan quit the Congress and, days later, was nominated by the BJP as a Rajya Sabha MP (File).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Mumbai: <\/b><\/p>\n
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Chavan<\/a> said Monday he was not the “senior leader… who left the Congress… weeping” that Rahul Gandhi<\/a> referred to at a ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra<\/a>‘ event in Mumbai.<\/p>\n On Sunday Rahul Gandhi – set to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Wayanad in Kerala and, most probably, the party stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh – concluded the Congress’ pan-India yatra with sharp barbs at his rivals and an unnamed friend-turned-foe, who many saw as Mr Chavan.<\/p>\n Mr Gandhi suggested that a “senior leader” had moved to the BJP to evade scrutiny by probe agencies, repeating charges by the opposition – that the ruling party uses the Enforcement Directorate, the Income Tax Department, and others to intimidate rival politicians, particularly before elections.<\/p>\n READ |\u00a0<\/strong>“He Spoke To My Mother, Weeping”: Rahul On “Leader” Who Quit<\/a><\/p>\n “… A senior leader from this state left the Congress. Weeping, he told my mother (ex-Congress boss Sonia Gandhi)… ‘I’m ashamed. Don’t have the power to fight this force. I do not want to go to jail’.”<\/p>\n Responding to the statement, ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister – who joined the BJP last month – pointed out Mr Gandhi had not actually named any individual in his attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.<\/p>\n “But if he is saying that about me, then it is illogical and baseless. The truth is that till I resigned from the Congress, I was working at the party headquarters. I resigned from the post of MLA and, a few moments later, from the party also. Till then, no one knew I had resigned,” he said in a video message.<\/p>\n “I never met Sonia Gandhi. It is baseless (to say) I met Sonia Gandhi and expressed my emotions. It is a political statement from the election point of view,” he continued.<\/p>\n Two high-profile political leaders from Maharashtra quit the Congress this year; former Union Minister Milind Deora went to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Mr Chavan went to the BJP.<\/p>\n READ |\u00a0<\/strong>Milind Deora Quits Congress, Joins Eknath Shinde-Led Shiv Sena<\/a><\/p>\n Mr Chavan has three cases pending against him; two of these are linked to the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam of November 2010, which had led to his resignation as Chief Minister.<\/p>\n The former Congress leader spoke to NDTV days after his switch to the BJP and nomination to the Rajya Sabha, and described his former party as a “sinking ship” with discontent within its ranks.<\/p>\n READ |\u00a0<\/strong>“Congress Not Changing Is The Problem”: Ashok Chavan To NDTV<\/a><\/p>\n Mr Chavan also criticised the Congress for failing to prep for the Lok Sabha election, which begins April 19; Maharashtra will vote in five phases starting from that date. “State of Congress vis-a-vis BJP? I don’t see them ready for a fight (and) if you don’t fight, how will you win?” he said.<\/p>\n NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link<\/a> to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n