An embarrassed former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Saturday dismissed speculation about his impending resignation as the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president, after an audio tape in which he is heard telling a party worker that ‘No one is listening to me. I am planning to resign" went viral in the State.
An audio tape of a conversation between Chavan and a party activist from Chandrapur, who identified himself as one Rajurkar, in which the former expressed desire from his post as the State Congress chief went viral on Saturday.
In the mobile conversation, the caller voiced resentment over the nomination of Vinayak Bangade as a Congress candidate for the Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat and said that the party cadres were opposed to Bangade’s candidature.
Chavan also suggested to the caller that he should speak to Mukul Wasik, who was “calling the shots” in the selection of candidates for the state. "But Mukul Wasnik is no one in front of you," the caller said.
At one stage, Chavan is heard saying: “I have also informed the party. Nobody is listening to me. I am planning to resign”.
A former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Chavan was questioned about the audio tape in circulation at a news conference called to announce the formalisation of the seat-sharing arrangement among the “Mahaghatbandhan” constituents in the State.
Though he indirectly admitted that the tape was genuine one, Chavan said that a private conversation had no relevance in politics. He clarified that he had no plans to quit as the MPCC chief.