Chavan got inducted into the Centre after the exit of Mr. V. K. Krishna Menon and grew into a National Leader steadily. His contribution to the two smooth successors - from Nehru to shastri and from Shastri to Mrs. Indira Gandhi - was notable. Here again, he had to overcome his personal sentiment towards Mr. Desai and go by the consensus in the Congress Party.
In Mrs. Gandhi's cabinet specially, he wielded considerable influence. He helped Mrs. Gandhi in a big way in putting through measures like nationalisation of major banks, take over progressively of import-export trade and in the abolition of privy purses and privileges of former rulers.
However, with a pang in the heart, one regrets that Chavan, who had been an uncrowned king of Maharashtra, a modern Chhatrapati Shivaji for his people and a dominent personality at the all India level, suffered a side back because of some political misjudgements. His decision to go along with the syndicate on the choice of Mr. Sanjiva Reddy as the party candidate for Presidentship against the wishes of his own leader, Mrs. Gandhi, was a colossal blunder. Mrs. Gandhi outmanoeuvred the syndicate by defeating Mr. Reddy, easing out Mr. Morarji Desai from office and nationalising the first fourteen leading banks. Wedded to socialistic programmes that Mr. Chavan was, he had no option except to go along with he under the pressure of circumstances. But then he had lost the esteem and fraternal affection Mrs. Gandhi had always bestowed on him.
The writer, who had developed good relations with him, warned Mr. Chavan a few days before the fatuful Bangalore session of the AICC not to go in for confrontation with Mrs. Gandhi on the issue of Presidential nomination. Knowing Kamaraj's own vacillation on the issue, he suggested that Chavan should persuade him also not to create crisis in the Party. Chavan was inclined to agree with this view point at Bangalore, behaved totally differently. "The Sthithapragna" in him deserted him and the possibility of himself becoming Prime Minister clouded his mind. The only reason for his disenchantment with Mrs. Gandhi then was her delay in abolishing privy purses and privileges of the Ex-Maharajas. Dinesh Singh, an important consellor of Mrs. Gandhi in those days, had organised a formidable lobby for the princes in the ruling party and pressurised Mrs. Gandhi not to implement this decision of the All India Congress Committee. But then, Chavan fought Mrs. Gandhi on the wrong ground. However, notwithstanding this patch of misunderstanding, Mr. Chavan stood by Mrs. Gandhi right till the end of the emergency. But Chavan's judgement failed him once again during the Janata period. He had become leader of the Congress Party in Parliament with her blessings but utilised the position to block Mrs. Gandhi's re-emergence. He wrongly thought that she had got extinguished from the political life of the country. As future events showed, Mrs. Gandhi split the party again in 1978 and phonix like re-emerged as the Prime Minister of the country in 1980. Once again, Chavan had to eat the humble pie and seek re-entry into the Congress-I. Because of the residue of affection she still had for Mr. Chavan, Mrs. Gandhi re-admitted him into her fold and utilised his services as Chairman of the eight Finance Commission. She even toyed with the idea of re-inducting him into her Cabinet but could not persuade her own close colleagues into doing it.
Despite these dark patches, what stands out in Chavan's many-splendoured life is his unwavering adherence to the trinity of Congress heritage - democracy, secularism and socialism. It is this which made him reject the office of Mr. Morarji Desai to join his cabinet. Chavan told him he could not think of it so long as the Janata Party was resting on the support of the RSS dominated Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Chavan lived upto the Congress ideology till the last breath of his life.
Chavan will also be remembered for yet another single contribution. He demonstrated how a strong regional identity necessary to propel the masses into making great strides towards progress need not be at the expense of national unity and integration. Chavan will be specially missed. Now, because this is the very crisis which is affecting the Nation !