Eknath Khadse, the MLC for the NCP (SP), has thanked party chief Sharad Pawar for assisting him during his time of need and announced that he will be joining the BJP, his parent organization, within the next 15 days.
Due to a land deal case, veteran leader Khadse was forced to resign in 2016 from his position as a minister in the previous Devendra Fadnavis cabinet.
Once one of the tallest leaders of the Maharashtra branch of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr. Khadse was cast aside and left for nearly five years until ending his forty-year association with the BJP in 2020 and being rehabilitated by Sharad Pawar in the NCP (undivided).
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Mr Khadse said, “I have decided to go back to the BJP as it is my home. I have served the party for four decades. I express my gratitude towards Sharad Pawar who helped me during the distress.” “I have spoken to leaders like BJP national president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. I will join the party in New Delhi in next 15 days. Once I get a call, I will visit Delhi,” he said.
Last year, Mr Khadse chose to side with Sharad Pawar when the NCP split after Ajit Pawar and eight other MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde government.
On Sunday, state minister and BJP leader Girish Mahajan termed his former colleague Mr Khadse an “extinguished lamp.”
“He is like an extinguished lamp. Even a gram panchayat is not in his hand. He used to control a bank, but the board of directors has also changed, and new board members do not listen to him. Why make his decision so important?” Mr Mahajan told reporters.
His wife and daughter have lost elections in the past, said Mr Mahajan, who has been Mr Khadse’s arch-rival in Jalgaon district.
Mr Khadse, who was leader of opposition in the state assembly between 2009 and 2014, was a contender for the post of chief minister when the BJP won 120-odd seats in the 2014 Assembly polls. However, he was beaten to the top post by Devendra Fadnavis.
It is anticipated that his entry into the BJP will strengthen the party’s position in the northern Maharashtra region.
After being refused a ticket, Unmesh Patil, the sitting MP for Jalgaon in the BJP, recently defected to the Shiv Sena (UBT). The Jalgaon native Smita Wagh is the party’s nominee.
The daughter-in-law of Mr. Khadse In the upcoming elections, Raksha Khadse, a BJP MP from Raver, is running for a third term in the Lok Sabha.
Rohini Khadse, his daughter, is a member of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).
She received a ticket from the BJP to run in the 2019 assembly elections from Muktainagar, but independent Chandrakant Nimba Patil won.
Subsequently, Eknath Khadse attributed the defeat to BJP leaders.
In a Sunday post on X, Rohini Khadse declared that she would stay with the NCP (SP) and not join the BJP like her father had done.
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