Maharashtra: I didn't meet Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi's claim 'baseless', says Ashok Chavan

Ashok Chavan. File Pic

BJP Rajya Sabha member Ashok Chavan, who last month quit the Congress, on Monday said he did not meet Sonia Gandhi before leaving the grand old party and dismissed Rahul Gandhi's comments in this regard as "baseless", reported the PTI.

Addressing a rally in Mumbai on Sunday ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi claimed a leader from Maharashtra cried in front of his mother Sonia Gandhi, saying he felt ashamed that he could not "fight this power any more and didn't want to go to jail".

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Reacting to it, Ashok Chavan in a video message on Monday said that Rahul Gandhi made the statement in a rally on Sunday and did not take anybody's name.

"But if he is saying that about me, then it is illogical and baseless. The truth is that till I resigned from the Congress, I was working at the party headquarters. I resigned from the post of MLA and a few moments later resigned from the party also. Till then, no one knew that I had resigned," the former state chief minister said.
"I never met Sonia Gandhi. It is baseless (to say) that I met Sonia Gandhi and expressed my emotions. It is a political statement from the election point of view," Ashok Chavan said, as per the PTI.

After Ashok Chavan quit the Congress last month, he joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which nominated him for the Rajya Sabha poll from Maharashtra.

Ashok Chavan was later declared elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed.

In 2010, Ashok Chavan stepped down as chief minister following allegations of involvement in the Adarsh housing scam in Mumbai. He was also state Congress chief during 2014-19.

Meanwhile, after concluding its nationwide Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Congress party joined with its alliance partners of INDIA bloc will kickstart their Lok Sabha election campaign from Mumbai. All the prominent leaders from the Congress, including Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi have reached the Shivaji Park ground in Mumbai. Other Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders including Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and others have also joined the Gandhi family at Shivaji Park.

(with PTI inputs)