Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that I didn’t meet Sonia Gandhi is “baseless”: Chavan Ashok

Ashok Chavan, a member of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha who left the Congress last month, said on Monday that he had not seen Sonia Gandhi before to departing the historic organization and called Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in this respect “baseless.”

Ahead of the 2018 Lok Sabha elections, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said at a rally in Mumbai on Sunday that a Maharashtra politician had sobbed in front of his mother Sonia Gandhi, expressing humiliation at being unable to “fight this power any more and not wanting to go to jail”.

In response, Chavan claimed in a video message on Monday that Rahul Gandhi made the claim during a rally on Sunday without mentioning anybody by name.

“However, it is irrational and unfounded if he is making such claim against me. In actuality, I was employed at the party headquarters up to my resignation from the Congress. Shortly after taking office as MLA, I tendered my resignation from the party as well. I had resigned, but no one knew till then,” the former state chief minister claimed.

“Sonia Gandhi and I never met. To state that I met Sonia Gandhi and shared my feelings with her would be unfounded. From the perspective of the election, it is a political statement, according to Chavan.

Chavan joined the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last month after leaving the Congress, and the party nominated him from Maharashtra for the Rajya Sabha election.

Later on, Chavan was proclaimed elected without opposition to the Rajya Sabha.

2010 saw Chavan resign as chief minister in response to claims that he was involved in the Mumbai Adarsh housing fraud. In addition, he led the state Congress from 2014 to 2019.