Ex-minister Ravindra Chavan appointed Maharashtra BJP working president

New Delhi: BJP on Saturday appointed MLA and former Minister Ravindra Chavan as new Working President in Maharashtra in a move that is seen as an attempt by the party to keep the influential Maratha community from going against it.

Chavan, who belongs to the Maratha community and considered close to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was not inducted in the new government and there was speculation that he would be drafted into the organisation.

With Fadnavis being a Brahmin and Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule belonging to the OBC community, the appointment of Chavan is considered as a balancing act at the leadership level by the saffron party.

The 54-year-old Dombivli MLA is also connected to the RSS and seen as a potential successor of Bawankule when the party goes into organisational reshuffle. He has been representing Dombivli since the constituency came into being in 2009.

Several names are doing the rounds for the post of BJP president in Maharashtra and Chavan was one among them. (ENDS)