Ashok Chavan

Ashokrao Shankarrao Chavan (born 28 October 1958)[1] is an Indian politician from Maharashtra. He is son of ex-Maharashtra Chief Minister Shankarrao Chavan. He is one of the most influential leaders of Indian National Congress in Maharashtra. He has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra state from 8 December 2008 to 9 November 2010. Also, he has served as Minister for Cultural Affairs, Industries, Mines and Protocol in the Vilasrao Deshmukh government and he is also the former PWD Minister of Maharashtra.

Ashokrao Chavan
अशोकराव चव्हाण
Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
2009
Governor
Speaker of the House
ConstituencyBhokar
In office
1999–2004
Governor
Speaker of the House
  • Arun Gujarathi
  • Babasaheb Kupekar
ConstituencyMudkhed
16th Chief Minister of Maharashtra
Second Term
In office
07 November 2009 – 11 November 2010
Governor
DeputyChhagan Bhujbal
CabinetSecond Ashok Chavan ministry
Ministry and Department
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byPrithviraj Chavan
First Term
In office
08 December 2008 – 07 November 2009
GovernorS. C. Jamir
DeputyChhagan Bhujbal
CabinetFirst Ashok Chavan ministry
Ministry and Department
Preceded byVilasrao Deshmukh
Succeeded byHimself
Cabinet Minister
Government of Maharashtra
In office
30 December 2019 – 29 June 2022
Minister
GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyari
CabinetThackeray ministry
Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray
Deputy CMAjit Pawar
Guardian Minister
Preceded by
Succeeded byRavindra Chavan
Leader of the House of the
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
In office
08 December 2008 – 10 November 2010
Governor
Speaker of the House
Deputy LeaderChhagan Bhujbal
Preceded byVilasrao Deshmukh
Succeeded byPrithviraj Chavan
Member of Parliament Lok Sabha
In office
2014–2019
Preceded byBhaskarrao Bapurao Khatgaonkar
Succeeded byPrataprao Govindrao Chikhalikar
ConstituencyNanded
In office
1987–1989
Preceded byShankarrao Chavan
Succeeded byVenkatesh Kabde
ConstituencyNanded
Cabinet Minister
Government of Maharashtra
In office
01 November 2004 – 04 December 2008
Minister
Governor
CabinetSecond Deshmukh ministry
Chief MinisterVilasrao Deshmukh
Deputy CMR. R. Patil
Preceded by
Succeeded by
In office
18 January 2003 – 04 November 2004
Minister
Governor
CabinetSushilkumar Shinde ministry
Chief MinisterSushilkumar Shinde
Deputy CM
Preceded by
Succeeded by
In office
18 October 1999 – 16 January 2003
Minister
Governor
CabinetFirst Deshmukh ministry
Chief MinisterVilasrao Deshmukh
Deputy CM
Preceded by
Succeeded by
President of Maharashtra
Pradesh Congress Committee
In office
2015–2019
National President Indian National CongressRahul Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi
Preceded byManikrao Thakre
Succeeded byBalasaheb Thorat
Minister of State
Government of Maharashtra
In office
06 March 1993 – 14 March 1995
Minister
GovernorP. C. Alexander
CabinetFourth Pawar ministry
Chief MinisterSharad Pawar
Member of Maharashtra Legislative Council
In office
1992–1998
General Secretary
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee
In office
1995–1999
Vice-President and General Secretary of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee
In office
1986–1995
Personal details
Born
Ashokrao Shankarrao Chavan

(1958-10-28) 28 October 1958
Bombay, Bombay State, India
Political partyIndian National Congress
Spouse
​
(m. 1982)​
ChildrenSujaya & Sreejaya Chavan
ParentKusum & Shankarrao Chavan
Residence(s)Anand Nilayam, Shivaji Nagar, Nanded
Alma materHazarimal Jomani College (BSc)
B.Y.K. College of Commerce (MBA)

On 9 November 2010, the Congress Party asked him to resign from office over corruption allegations relating to Adarsh Housing Society scam.[2] In the 2014 general elections, despite the allegations and anti-incumbency wave, he won the Lok Sabha election from his Nanded constituency with a comfortable margin. In 2015, he was appointed the president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee. Chavan lost his Nanded seat in the 2019 Lok sabha election to Pratap Patil Chikhalikar of the BJP. [3]

Chavan belongs to an influential political family based in Nanded district of Maharashtra state. He is the son of Shankarrao Chavan, a former Chief Minister of Maharashtra himself; they are the first father–son duo in the state's history to become chief ministers.[4][5] His brother-in-law Bhaskarrao Bapurao Khatgaonkar Patil was a three-time Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and a three-time MP, and Chavan's wife, Amita is MLA from Bhokar constituency in Nanded for years 2014-19.

Personal life

Chavan did his schooling at the St. Xavier's High School, Fort.[6] He graduated in Science and has obtained his Master's in Business Management from Hazarimal Jomani College and B.Y.K. College of Commerce.[7]

Chavan belongs to a political dynasty that includes his father and wife.[8] Chavan's father, Shankarrao Chavan had a long career as a minister and was twice, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He had also served as a senior minister in the national government under various Congress governments. Ashok Chavan is married to Ameeta (née Sharma). Ameeta is current member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Bhokar constituency which has previously been represented by both Shankarrao Chavan and Chavan himself. The couple has twin daughters Srijaya and Sujaya.[9]

Political career

Organisational

He started career as student leader of University of Pune occupying post of University Representative (UR).

He started his political career in Congress Party as General Secretary, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee from 1995 to 1999.

President: Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee from 2014 to 2019.

MEMBER: CONGRESS WORKING COMMITTEE from August 2023 to Present

Electoral politics

In 1987–89, he held post of Member of Parliament from Nanded Lok Sabha constituency.

In 1992, he was elected as M.L.C. to the Maharashtra Legislative Council and later joined as Minister of State for Public works, Urban Development and Home in March 1993.

In 2003, Vilasrao Deshmukh appointed Chavan as Minister for Transport, Ports, Cultural Affairs and Protocol.

In November 2004, he was given the portfolio of Industries, Mining, Cultural Affairs & Protocol in Maharashtra cabinet.[4]

As a cabinet minister
  • 2003: Transport Minister.
  • 2019: Sworn in as Cabinet Minister in Uddhav Thackeray's Ministry.

Tenure as Chief Minister of Maharashtra
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh along with the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Ashok Chavan and the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources, Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal at the signing ceremony of a tripartite MoU for preparation of DPR of Damanganga-Pinjal Link Project and Par-Tapi-Narmada Link Project, in New Delhi on May 03, 2010.

In the aftermath of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, Vilasrao Deshmukh took the moral responsibility and offered to resign, which was then accepted by the party and Chavan was elected as Chief Minister of Maharashtra.[10][11]

After winning assembly elections in 2009, Congress President Sonia Gandhi once again nominated Chavan as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Sharad Pawar, the leader of rival coalition partner NCP party, had been lukewarm towards Chavan, after his first choice of union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was ignored well before the race began.[12][13][14]

Congress had clearly plumped for a Maratha to lead the party in the state, and had ignored the NCP view that a non-Maratha should be selected for the position to set right the social combination.

As a result, NCP chose a non-Maratha, Chhagan Bhujbal to occupy the deputy Chief Minister's post and gave the home ministry to Jayant Patil. The latter being a Maratha balanced the NCP's own bid to remain the community's first choice. Chavan was asked to resign as Chief Minister during a meeting with Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, after it emerged that three of his relatives owned apartments in the Adarsh Housing Society which was created specifically to house Indian war veterans in the upmarket Colaba area of Mumbai.[15] He was succeeded by Prithviraj Chavan.

Post Chief Minister

Despite the corruption allegations, the Congress party put him up as a party candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. He won the election by a huge margin. In Maharashtra, Rajiv Satav and Chavan were the only Congress candidates elected.

In 2015, he took over as the chief of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.[16]

Chavan contested the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections from Nanded Constituency but lost the election to BJP's Prataprao Patil Chikhalikar. He is one of the 9 former Chief Ministers of Congress who lost in Lok Sabha 2019 Election.[17]

Controversy, scams and allegations

Apart from the much discussed Adarsh Housing Society Scam, Chavan was accused of using his office to fund his relatives' bank.[18] Recently High court of Maharashtra state denied permission to the agency investigating the Adarsh scam to question Chavan.

In 2009 Assembly Elections, he was accused of hiding expenses on a paid supplement titled Ashok Parva in a leading Marathi daily.[19] However, he denied the allegation by the Election Commission of India of having inserted favourable Paid News in newspapers.[20]

Legislative assembly election's record
SI No. Year Legislative Assembly Constituency Margin Party Post
1. 2009 12th Bhokar 1,07,503 Indian National Congress Chief Minister of Maharashtra
2. 2019 14th Bhokar 97,445 Indian National Congress PWD Minister of Maharashtra

References
  1. "Biodata - Ashok Chavan" (PDF). Pune Hitech. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  2. "Cong axes Chavan and Kalmadi over corruption allegations" The Hindu, 9 November 2010
  3. "Lok Sabha elections: Ashok Chavan lost Nanded to 15-year jinks...say party workers". No. May 23, 2019. Times of India. TNN. 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  4. "Profile: Ashok Chavan, in father's footsteps". Press Trust Of India. IBN Live (CNN-IBN). 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 5 December 2008.
  5. "Government". Government of Maharashtra. Archived from the original on 15 July 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  6. Vibhute, Kranti (7 January 2018). "St Xavier's alumni recall golden moments at reunion". DNA India.
  7. "NDTV.com: Who is Ashok Chavan?". Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  8. Kanchan Chandra (28 April 2016). Democratic Dynasties: State, Party and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics. Cambridge University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-107-12344-1.
  9. "Twin daughters, Punjabi wife make up home for Ashok Chavan". Times of India. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  10. "Ashok Chavan named Maharashtra CM". Rediff. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  11. "Ashok Chavan sworn in as Maharashtra CM". Rediff. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  12. "Congress retains all three CMs; Khandu, Hooda sworn in". Rediff. 25 October 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  13. "Ashok Chavan frontrunner for CM's post". Rediff. 25 October 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  14. "Chavan is Cong's first choice as Maha CM". Rediff. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  16. "Ashok Chavan new MPCC chief". nagpurtoday.in. 14 March 2015.
  17. "Ashok Chavan the heavyweight who lost Lok Sabha 2019 election". atrendhub.com.
  18. "Ashok Chavan used his office to fund kins' bank: CAG". The Hindu. 23 April 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  19. "Ashok Chavan faces disqualification in paid news case of 2009". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  20. "Maharashtra CM Chavan Challenges EC on Paid News" The Hindu, 21 July 2010.
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