Prithviraj Chavan

Cong face with clean image, Prithviraj Chavan gets shock defeat in polls

The defeat of Congress veteran and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in the Maharashtra assembly polls in his home district Karad has come as a shock and big setback for him in his decades long political career. One of the most educated lawmakers in the state, Chavan's career saw him becoming the chief minister of the state and also a Union minister. Known for his clean and non-controversial image, Chavan, 78, took over as the state's chief minister when the Congress was battling allegations of corruption 2010. When Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently campaigned in Karad South assembly seat, he quipped that Chavan was a politician of international standard and a misfit in the state Vidhan Sabha. To the shock and surprise of even Chavan's critics, the senior leader lost the seat to BJP's Atul Bhosale by nearly 40,000 votes in the state poll results announced on Saturday. The defeat is a new low for Chavan personally as well as the Congress, which suff

Cong's Maharashtra poll performance shocking, worst-ever: Prithviraj Chavan

Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Sunday said his party's defeat was "shocking" and dubbed it as the "worst-ever" loss in the state assembly polls. Talking to PTI, Chavan said the Mahayuti government's Ladki Bahin Yojana, for providing financial assistance to women, clicked with voters in rural areas while polarisation hit the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) prospects in urban parts of the state. "It is difficult to say whether there was a wave or tampering," said Chavan, who lost from his Karad South seat. The results of the November 20 polls to the 288-member state assembly were announced on Saturday. Several bigwigs from the MVA, including Chavan, were defeated. The Congress, which contested 101 seats as part of the MVA, posted its worst-ever defeat by managing to win only 16 seats. Chavan said he was expecting to win his Karad South seat in Satara district by 5,000 to 6,000 votes. But, all MVA nominees in the district lost

CM Shinde, Fadnavis lead winners' pack; Cong's Chavan, Thorat bite dust

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shine of Shiv Sena and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar from BJP and NCP, respectively, are among the prominent candidates to win the assembly elections, results of which were declared on Saturday. All ministers of the Mahayuti, who were in the fray, won. Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, and state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule also emerged victorious. Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aaditya Thackeray and Varun Sardesai won from Mumbai. Sardesai defeated NCP candidate Zeeshan Siddique from the Vandre East constituency. Former Maharashtra CM and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat, AICC incharge of Goa, Manikrao Thakre, Shiv Sena contestant Shaina NC and MNS debutant candidate Amit Thackeray bit the dust. Former Union minister minister Milind Deora was defeated by Aaditya Thackeray from Worli seat. NCP (SP) nominee Yugendra Pawar, grandnephew of Sharad Pawar, was trounced by Ajit

Shiv Sena's 2022 split was endorsed by senior leadership of BJP: Chavan

Veteran Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday claimed the 2022 split in the Shiv Sena, which triggered the fall of Maharashtra's Maha Vikas Aghadi government, had endorsement from the BJP's "senior leadership". Speaking to reporters in Satara, the former chief minister noted the November 20 assembly polls are taking place in the backdrop of what happened in June 2022, when a section of Shiv Sena MLAs rebelled against the leadership of party president and then-CM Uddhav Thackeray. After the split in the Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde, who led the rebellion, took over as chief minister. "These state elections are taking place in a particular political backdrop. The BJP's senior leadership had toppled the MVA government by engineering a split in the Shiv Sena. This entire move had a 'rajmanyata' (endorsement from top leadership ). "It was not done at Mumbai level by two or three people. There was meticulous planning as the BJP's entire machinery was after it. It was like a ...

Why is PM Modi ignoring demand for granting Marathi special status: Cong

The Congress on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "ignoring" the demand for granting Marathi classical language status and that for 10 years, he had done nothing on "the well-argued case" submitted by then CM Prithviraj Chavan in 2014 articulating the demand. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh posed four questions to the prime minister ahead of his Pune visit. However, Modi's visit to Pune was cancelled due to the heavy rain situation in the city. In his posers to Modi, Ramesh asked why is the Chakan industrial area facing a mass exodus of manufacturing units. "Pune's Chakan industrial area is currently witnessing a mass exodus of manufacturing units due to problems caused by poor road infrastructure. Despite ongoing roadwork, basic issues of traffic congestion and potholes continue to plague the area," Ramesh said in his post on X. This has not only caused frequent traffic jams but also a worrying increase in the number of ...

Scrap registration cut off date for Ladki Bahin scheme, says Chavan

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has demanded that the cut off time to register for the Maharashtra government's Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana be waived off to enable all eligible women to avail financial assistance. The August 31 cut off date should be scrapped and the scheme should be implemented as a social security right, Chavan said in a letter to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Due to technical glitches, the server of the official portal is non functional most of the time, while in several instances women do not get the registration OTP for nearly six hours, he said. Women are worried they will not be able to register themselves for the scheme in time, Chavan said in the letter. He said the registration limit was July 15 earlier and this was extended to August 31 after he made such a demand during the monsoon session, adding the age limit was increased from 60 to 65 years following his initiative.

Prithviraj Chavan seeks mpox testing, quarantine protocol at Mumbai airport

Amid concerns over Monkeypox, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, demanding strict testing and quarantine protocol at the Mumbai airport for passengers from high-risk countries. The World Health Organisation has declared Monkeypox a public health emergency, and the virus has now reached Pakistan, former Maharashtra CM Chavan said on Saturday, urging the government to take proactive steps to prevent its spread in India. "It has reached our neighbourhood. We have to act. I have written to the CM to implement a strict testing and quarantine protocol at the Mumbai airport for all the incoming passengers from high-risk countries," the Congress leader said on X. Timely action was necessary as any delay could lead to severe consequences, he said. The Union Health Ministry on Saturday said there were no reported cases of Monkeypox in India even though cautionary measures will be put in place to prevent and control the spread of the ...

BJP has promised Maha CM's post to Ajit Pawar, claims Prithviraj Chavan

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Monday claimed he has information that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has promised Ajit Pawar the post of Maharashtra chief minister. With Ajit Pawar's move to join the ruling Eknath Shinde-BJP coalition on Sunday changing political dynamics in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also claimed that Shinde will lose the CM's post. On Sunday, Ajit Pawar led a vertical split in the NCP to become the deputy chief minister, shocking his uncle Sharad Pawar, who founded the party 24 years ago. Eight NCP leaders were also sworn in as ministers in the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. To a query, Chavan while speaking to reporters in Karad said, "I had spoken about it (that Ajit Pawar may go with BJP) publicly but I faced criticism." The Congress leader said he knew this was happening. "Just bargaining was going on over what he (Ajit) should be getting. As per our information, he has been given a promise of chie

Tremendous anger among people on way MVA govt was toppled: Chavan

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Friday said there is tremendous anger among people over the manner in which the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was brought down in Maharashtra in June last year. The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government, which comprised the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, fell after a rebellion by Eknath Shinde, who went on to become chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Addressing a press conference, Chavan said a two-day review meeting of all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra was assessing the political situation and how the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra and the party's win in Karnataka had impacted Maharashtra politics at the ground level. "We will discuss where the Congress stands and how the MVA can win maximum seats. The fight in Maharashtra will be between the MVA and the BJP-Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena alliance. Seat sharing will be tough but it will be done," the former chief minister said. He

Rahul's LS disqualification will be a key issue in 2024 polls, says Chavan

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday said former INC president Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha will be one of the key issues

Friction arose with Prithviraj Chavan as he had no experience: Ajit Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar said on Friday that the reason for the discord between him and then Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was that the latter had no experience of the state's politics. Pawar was deputy chief minister when Chavan headed the Congress-NCP alliance government between 2010 and 2014. Asked about the talk of discord between him and Chavan during an interview at an event organised by the Lokmat media group here, Pawar said Chavan had never worked even as an MLA in the state as he was mostly based in Delhi. "Prithviraj Chavan had never worked as an MLA here. He was not aware of what kind of treatment we had received from people in the power....He had no experience of the state cabinet," the NCP leader said. "He had been working in the PMO and there is a difference between the state politics and politics in Delhi," Pawar added. Chavan, who was a minister in the Manmohan Singh government, became chief minister after Ashok Chavan resigned .

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We are moving towards new 'license-permit raj', says Prithviraj Chavan

Amid a controversy over Maharashtra losing some big-ticket industrial projects, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has claimed that the country is heading towards a new "license-permit raj". Political instability makes investors nervous, the former state chief minister told reporters here on Tuesday. The alliance government of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction and the BJP in Maharashtra is under fire after Gujarat bagged some mega-investment projects, allegedly at Maharashtra's expense. Recently, a Tata-led consortium and Airbus announced a military aircraft manufacturing facility in Gujarat. Chavan said, "The current Maharashtra government is not even able to form a full cabinet. That is not a good sign. The reasons (for instability) are change in the government, interference by Delhi and hijacking of the projects which should have come to Maharashtra." During the infamous license-permit raj of the pre-1991 era, the Union government could tell investors where they should inv

Party president should be allowed to take decisions: Prithviraj Chavan

'For a vibrant Congress all electoral processes need to be put in place. Kharge should be allowed to find his own feet and permitted to take his own decisions on who should contest election'

Some G23 leaders meet Ghulam Nabi Azad; discuss future strategy of grouping

Senior Congress leaders and members of G-23 Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Anand Sharma and Prithviraj Chavan on Tuesday met Ghulam Nabi Azad at his residence, days after the leader from Jammu and Kashmir resigned from the party after blaming the leadership. Sharma, Hooda and Chavan held discussions at Azad's residence and are learnt to have discussed the future strategy of the G-23. The Congress leaders are learnt to have also discussed the organisational elections, including that of the Congress president, amid reports that Shashi Tharoor, who is a member of the group, is considering contesting the election for the top party post. The G-23 had written a letter to Sonia Gandhi in August 2020 demanding an organisational overhaul and elections at all levels of the party. The G-23 had also been critical of certain decisions of the party leadership. Tuesday's meeting comes days after Azad resigned from the Congress and announced that he will float his own outfit in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of

MVA will have to move SC against Guv's letter for floor test: Prithviraj

Senior Cong leader Prithviraj Chavan said Maharashtra's ruling MVA will have to move the Supreme Court against Guv Koshyiari's letter mandating the Thackeray-led dispensation to face a floor test

Prithviraj Chavan clarifies his 'haven't met Rahul Gandhi in 4 yrs' remark

Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday issued a clarification over his remark 'haven't met Rahul Gandhi in the last four years'.

BJP will lose in all five poll-bound states: Cong's Prithviraj Chavan

The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

Covid-19 catastrophe due to incompetent leadership, callousness: Prithviraj

The incompetent leadership and callousness has driven India to the present Covid-19 catastrophe, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said on Wednesday

Maharashtra: Cong's Chavan accuses Centre of bias in Covid-19 help

Prithviraj Chavan on Saturday accused the Centre of "discrimination on the basis of politics" in the distribution of critical medical equipment