Former minister and sitting BJP MLA from Dombivli, Ravindra Chavan has been officially appointed the new president of the Maharashtra unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The nomination papers of Chavan, a four-term legislator and Maratha representative who currently holds the working president post in the party, were filed on Monday in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and outgoing BJP state president Chandrashekar Bawankule. Fadnavis lauded the work done by the outgoing state chief, Bawankule, in strengthening the party organisation, which was reflected in the Assembly elections held last year.
Bawankule, a prominent OBC leader within the party, in 2024, was inducted into the state cabinet and now heads the important revenue ministry in the Mahayuti government, which comprises the BJP, Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. In 2022, Bawankule was appointed party president.Chavan’s appointment comes ahead of the crucial polls to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and 28 other civic bodies scheduled later this year. Chavan is a prominent face from Thane district, whose political career began in 2007 when he was elected as a corporator in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Despite the Congress-NCP alliance holding power, he became the chairman of the standing committee. In 2009, he was nominated as the BJP candidate for the Dombivli assembly seat and won. He was re-elected in 2014 and served as a minister of state overseeing various municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, including Kalyan-Dombivli, Mira-Bhayandar, and Panvel.
He played a key organisational role during the expansion of the BJP in semi-urban pockets such as Karjat, Badlapur, and Matheran. His performance earned him a place in the state cabinet, and he was also made the guardian minister of Palghar and Raigad districts. In 2019, Chavan won his third term as MLA and was credited for playing a crucial behind-the-scenes role in the formation of the Eknath Shinde-Fadnavis government in 2022. He was subsequently inducted as a cabinet minister with the PWD portfolio and appointed guardian minister for Sindhudurg. Chavan won his fourth consecutive term from Dombivli in 2024.