Mumbai: Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who resigned from the primary membership of the Congress on Monday, joined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, saying he was keen to contribute to the nation-building mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chavan’s exit is the latest in a series of blows to the party’s state unit over the last month — senior leader Milind Deora quit the party and joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui joined the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Chavan, 65, joined the BJP in the presence of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis — who praised his long political experience and anticipated contribution towards fortifying the ruling coalition — and chief of the party’s state unit Chandrashekhar Bawankule. Addressing the media after his induction, he said he was starting a new innings after 38 years in the Congress.

“It was not an easy decision for me to snap the 38-year-old association (with the Congress). It was a decision taken after a long deliberation,” he told reporters.

“The culture of Maharashtra has been different, and we do not criticise our opponent for the sake of it. I would not indulge in criticism against anybody. Quitting the party was my individual decision. I worked for the Congress till the last minute I was in the party. I will continue to do so in the BJP too,” he said.

The senior leader is learnt to have initially held conversations about being designated deputy chief minister in the current government but will instead contest the Rajya Sabha elections on February 27 as a BJP candidate, said a BJP leader, asking not to be named.

The son of Congress veteran and former home minister of India Shankarrao Chavan, Ashok Chavan said he was inspired by Modi’s quest for development. “I wanted to contribute to nation building. It will help us in the development of the state, the nation and my own district. I am sure that the BJP will achieve victory in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections,” he said.

Chavan also spoke about allegations of corruptions that led to him resigning as chief minister in November 2010 following accusations that he misused his office to help his kin get flats under the Adarsh housing scheme. “It was a political accident for which I have suffered a lot. The (Bombay) high court has ruled in our favour and the due legal process will take place.”

Chavan at one point mistakenly referred to the Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar as the Congress’s city unit president during his joining speech, a gaffe that elicited laughter from the gathering at the saffron party’s state headquarters here on Tuesday.

Regaining composure, the former Congress leader acknowledged the mistake. “It’s a slip of the tongue. This marks my inaugural day at the BJP headquarters, and I request you to excuse me,” he said.

According to the BJP leader cited above, the party was averse to the idea of making Chavan a deputy chief minister in addition to Ajit Pawar, who is from the Congress-NCP background, since doing so would have meant elevating a second leader against whom the party campaigned vigorously over the last decade.

Chief minister Shinde, who led a breakaway that was later ruled by the Speaker to be the main wing of the Shiv Sena, at present has two deputies – Pawar and Fadnavis.

The party top brass is also undecided about fielding Chavan for the Nanded Lok Sabha seat that he won in 2014, or continuing with the incumbent BJP MP Pratap Chikhlikar, who had defeated Chavan in 2019, the person added.

Instead, the BJP leadership is keen to send Chavan to the Rajya Sabha and he is likely to get a ministerial berth in the Union government after the general elections, said this person.

Other BJP leaders from Maharashtra whose names are in the fray for the Rajya Sabha polls include BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde, former minister Harshavardhan Patil, former women commission chief Vijaya Rahatkar and former state minister Pankaja Munde.

Fadnavis said a final decision about candidates for the Rajya Sabha poll would be taken by the central leadership of the party in consultation with state leaders.

Chavan’s close aide, Amar Rajurkar, also joined the BJP on Tuesday, but other Congress MLAs who are close to Chavan and are ready to join the BJP have been asked to wait as the ruling alliance is keen to utilise its votes in the ensuing Rajya Sabha poll.

“There are more than 12 MLAs who may quit the Congress, including three sitting MLAs from Nanded district. If they resign, the count of MLAs would drop, resulting in a decline in the quota for votes. It would benefit the Congress and ensure victory of its candidate,” said the senior BJP leader.

The disgruntled MLAs will be asked to cross vote during the Rajya Sabha poll, he added.

Chavan’s elder daughter Shreejaya is likely to replace him as the BJP’s assembly candidate from the Bhokar constituency in Nanded district in the assembly polls due in October, the leader said.

Fadnavis, meanwhile, said the BJP had not set any target for poaching MLAs from other parties; instead, many MLAs were in a queue to join it. “It is true that there are many leaders from other parties who want to join the BJP and we are in talks with leaders who have some standing at the local level. Chavan saheb is a tall leader and a national figure and joined us unconditionally,” he said. “Like him, many other leaders from other parties want to join us for mainstream politics.”

Congress’ state in-charge Ramesh Chennithala said Chavan was the “face of the party” (in Maharashtra). “He was supposed to fight, but he left the battlefield,” he added.