'Ashok Chavan called me...': Baba Siddique reveals why ex-CM quit Congress, joined BJP

Mumbai: Former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan with Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Mumbai: Baba Siddique, the Mumbai politician who quit the Congress earlier this month joined NCP, reacted to Ashok Chavan’s exit on Tuesday, saying his former party should treat this as a wake up call.

Chavan, a former Maharashtra chief minister, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party today. He said he has joined the BJP to take forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s developmental work.

Siddique said Ashok Chavan had called him and told him that their paths will cross each other in the near future.

While Chavan hasn’t revealed why quit the Congress, Siddique said people are feeling suffocated in the party.

“Ashok Chavan called me and I told him that we are going to meet soon on the way ahead. More people are going to leave because when a person feels suffocated, he tries to find a way. It is a wake-up call for Congress but I don’t think they are going to wake up,” he said.

The NCP leader said the Congress lives in what he called La-la land.

“They don’t see the writing on the wall. It’s unfortunate for a party formed in 1885 that people are leaving like this. There must be a reason why people are leaving Congress.”

When asked about the reason behind the leaders leaving the Congress party, Siddique said this was because of the decision taken by the high command.

He blamed the party high command for the exits.

“As I think, this is not happening because of any specific leader. This is because of the decision taken by the high command collectively. The people who are not elected decide for the party. There are even some people who haven’t fought the election ever,” he said.

Earlier this year, Milind Deora also quit the Congress party and joined Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.

Meanwhile, after joining the BJP, Chavan said he didn’t put any conditions before the BJP.

“I have joined the BJP with the wish to contribute to the development work of the central government led by Narendra Modi. It’s an unconditional move without asking for any post. It’s a new inning for me after serving in politics for a long 38 years,” he said after joining the BJP in the presence of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

With inputs from ANI

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