The Congress high command’s decision to accept chief minister Ashok Chavan’s resignation came as a rude shock for the outgoing state leader. The party high command had asked him to submit the resignation to governor K. Sankaranarayanan. However, the CM decided to first break the news to his close confidantes and then proceed to Raj Bhavan.
Accordingly, Mr Chavan first called state ministers and legislators from his camp. Ministers Vijay Vadettiwar, Subhash Zanak, Suresh Shetty, Varsha Gaikwad, Rajendra Darda and Naseem Khan were asked to gather at the CM’s official residence Varsha.
NCP minister Anil Deshmukh met the CM before he submitted the resignation to Mr Sankarnarayanan. Members of legislative council Vijay Sawant, Hussain Dalwai and Mumbai Pradesh Congress chief Kripashankar Singh were also present at Mr Chavan’s residence.
“I received a call from Mr Chavan at around 9.10 am. When he asked me to come over to Varsha immediately. I realised that the worst has happened. When I was on my way to his residence, I got another phone call confirming that the party high command had asked him to resign,” an MLA and Chavan supporter said.
The legislator regretted the fact that Mr Chavan had to resign though the state government was functioning smoothly. “There were no problems in the government’s functioning. Even the coordination between the party and the government was the best in the last 15 years. There was no need to change the CM. He would not have resigned if the Parliament had not been in session. The party was under pressure from the Opposition because of which the resignation was accepted,” he said.
After meeting his supporters, Mr Chavan and his wife left Varsha at around 10.40 am to meet the governor. He reached Raj Bhavan at around 10.45 am and submitted his resignation.