Madhu Chavan: Hero to zero in just 3 days

MUMBAI: Madhu Chavan was not a well-known face in the state politics or in the state BJP before he was made president of the BJP���s Mumbai unit. But within three days of being elevated from state unit spokesperson to Mumbai BJP chief, Mr Chavan enjoyed the fame, though not for the reasons he would have liked.

Mr Chavan has become the fall guy in Gopinath Munde���s rebellion against the alleged ���undemocratic��� manner in which the party is being run. The central BJP leadership is learnt to have agreed to make Mr Chavan the proverbial sacrificial lamb by replacing him with someone of Mr Munde���s liking.

���He had lobbied very hard to get the post of Mumbai BJP chief. And finally he got it. But, he ended up becoming the immediate provocation for Mr Munde���s rebellion. At the end of the day, it seems Mr Chavan has lost much more than what he could ever have achieved even by becoming the Mumbai unit chief,��� said a state BJP functionary.

BJP sources said Mr Munde never had anything personal against Mr Chavan. In fact, the MLC with a modest support base among Mumbai���s mill workers was, till recently, a Munde loyalist. ���Mr Chavan started drifting towards Nitin Gadkari-Vinod Tawde duo a year back. This angered Mr Munde who saw a lobby emerging against him in the state BJP,��� said a party insider.

���Mumbai unit chief is a very significant post, especially when elections are due. The BJP has a strong support base among the traders and business community and Mr Munde thought that someone who could connect with these communities would be a better choice,��� he added. Mr Munde had pitched for either former MP Kirit Somaiya or MLA Prakash Mehta, who headed the city unit till Mr Chavan was put on the job.

���The logic given by those who backed Mr Chavan���s appointment was that he is a Maharashtrian. But being a national party, the BJP cannot afford to play the regional card so openly because it would convey the impression that the party has played into the hands of the Shiv Sena or the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena,��� said a source.

Another BJP functionary, who was bruised and battered in the wake of Mr Munde���s rebellion, is newly-elected MLC Vinod Tawde. A leader much in the mould of Mr Munde himself, Mr Tawde, ironically, was touted as Mr Munde���s prot��g�� till he shifted his loyalties to Mr Gadkari.

A Maratha from the Konkan region, Mr Tawde���s fast emergence as a popular and street-fighter BJP leader pitched him against Mr Munde. And now with Mr Munde is having the last laugh, politics will be much more challenging for both Madhu Chavan and Vinod Tawde.