'These betrayers...': Cong's swipe at Ashok Chavan after he quits party

New Delhi: "Betrayers" don't realise their exit opens up vast new opportunities for those whose growth they have always stunted, the Congress said on Monday as former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan quit the party amid speculation that he is veering towards the BJP.

In a setback to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Chavan wrote to state party president Nana Patole to say he was resigning as a primary member of the grand old party. The 65-year-old also submitted his resignation as an MLA to assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar.

"When friends and colleagues leave a political party that has given them much -- perhaps much more they deserved -- it is always a matter of anguish," Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said without naming Chavan.

"But to those who are vulnerable, THAT Washing Machine will always prove more attractive than ideological commitment or personal loyalties," he said in a post on X.

"These betrayers don't realise that their exit opens up vast new opportunities to those whose growth they have always stunted," Ramesh said.

Chavan’s exit from Congress comes days after senior Maharashtra Congress leaders Baba Siddique and Milind Deora quit the party.

Chavan hails from Nanded district in Marathwada region. His father, the late Shankarrao Chavan, was also the chief minister of Maharashtra. Ashok Chavan stepped down as chief minister in 2010 for his alleged involvement in Adarsh housing scam in Mumbai. He was also state Congress chief during 2014-19.