An audio tape carrying the laments of former chief minister Ashok Chavan and a fellow Congress party worker has gone viral. In the tape, Chavan can be allegedly heard expressing his frustration over the Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat row.
Ashok Chavan caught on ‘unverified’ tape | LISTEN IN: Ashok Chavan, Maharashtra Congress Chief in conversation with Congress Worker, Maharashtra. | #May23WithTimesNow pic.twitter.com/9oV7X3YnSM
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In the unverified audio tape, Chavan expresses his desire to quit the Congress party as his views are no longer been respected by the party. Nanded MP Chavan was allegedly talking to a Congress worker from Chandrapur who was displeased with party’s chosen candidate to contest from the said constituency.
According to reports, Congress chose Vinayak Bhangade over Suresh Dhanorkar, a Shiv Sena legislator who recently switched over, for Chandrapur. This happened despite Chavan’s word to Dhanorkar that he would be fielded from the constituency.
When contacted, Chavan neither denied nor confirmed if it was his voice on the tapes. He claimed there was a genuine discontent among the Congress cadres over ticket distribution, particularly for the Chandrapur constituency. In 2014, Congress field a total of 26 candidates in Maharashtra, out of which only 2 could manage to win, one of them being Ashok Chavan from Nanded Lok Sabha seat.
Chavan further said that these are all internal issues and should not be given as much importance as it is accorded. “It is internal communication between party workers and it’s my responsibility to listen to my party members’ grievances,” he said.
Of late, Maharashtra Congress has been festered with several defections and dissent by its once loyal leaders. After his son Sujay Patil joined BJP, Radhakrishna Patil quit as Leader of Opposition. Now, with dissent being raised by a senior Congress leader like Ashok Chavan, it hints that All is not well for Congress and the state unit might be on the verge of collapse.
