Former Minister Ravindra Chavan appointed working president of Maharashtra BJP

Mr. Chavan, tipped to be the next Maharashtra BJP president, is a four-time MLA from Dombivli, and is believed to be a ‘performer’

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravindra Chavan was appointed as the Maharashtra State working president by BJP national president J.P. Nadda on Saturday (January 11, 2025) night. The process of key organisational appointments will begin on Monday (January 13, 2025) under his leadership. He is also tipped to be the next State president of the BJP in Maharashtra. The announcement comes amid intense political speculations, as the process was pending due to the elections in the State.

Now, the Maharashtra BJP is slated to begin the process of its key organisational appointments from Monday (January 13, 2025). Before that, the party will hold a massive convention in Shirdi on Sunday (January 12, 2025) to pass a resolution to congratulate the people of Maharashtra for bringing the BJP to power with a thumping majority. 15,000 office bearers including Maharashtra BJP Ministers will attend the one-day-long convention.

“The janata abhinandan prastaav will be kept in front of the members in the convention on Sunday (January 12, 2025),” outgoing BJP’s Maharashtra State president Chandrashekhar Bawankule told The Hindu from Shirdi on Saturday (January 11, 2025). He is now the Minister of Revenue in the Maharashtra government.

When asked about the appointment of the new office-bearers in Maharashtra BJP, he said that the process will begin from Monday (January 13, 2025). “We have already enrolled 1.5 crore new primary members in Maharashtra BJP now. There are five lakh active members in all the booths of Maharashtra. There are one lakh booths in the State. Each booth now has five active members. The booth presidents will choose the tehsil president who in turn will choose the zilla presidents. The central observers will visit thereafter to complete the process of the appointment of the State president,” he said. Sources said that the naming of Ravindra Chavan as the State president will be a mere formality now.

Chavan as a performer

Ravindra Chavan, tipped to be the next Maharashtra president of the BJP, is a four-time MLA from Dombivli, and a man believed to be a ‘performer’. He was the PWD Minister in the last government of the Mahayuti. During the recent State Assembly elections, he was given the responsibility of Konkan region, the coastal belt which posed a major challenge. The Mahayuti had won 37 of the 39 seats. Recently, he was given bigger responsibilities in the State organisational structure, leading to murmurs about him being pegged to be the next State president in view of the appointment of Chandrashekhar Bawankule as the Revenue Minister. Chavan was appointed as the State incharge for ‘sanghatan parv’, a campaign to strengthen the of its organisational structure.

In view of the pending elections to local self-government bodies, including civic bodies like the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, the appointment of the district presidents are being keenly speculated on.

The Mumbai Municipal Corporation is the richest corporation in the country. In view of a clear split in the MVA now, where Uddhav Thackeray has decided to go solo, the BJP will also take a call on its strategy. Ashish Shelar recently met Raj Thackeray. Whether the BJP will fight along with Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, are the questions the new Mumbai president will look into. The State president will be tasked with the consolidation of the party victory in the local body elections as well.

Published - January 11, 2025 10:40 pm IST