The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader Eknath Khadse on Wednesday said that he met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis regarding pending works in Jalgaon, his home district, and asserted there was no discussion on his re-entry into the BJP, reported the PTI.
Speaking to reporters, Khadse maintained he is not quitting the Sharad Pawar-led party, a constituent of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), and insisted there was no political angle to his meeting with Fadnavis, a senior BJP leader.
The meeting took place at `Sagar`, Devendra Fadnavis`s current official bungalow in south Mumbai, on Tuesday night, the source close to the chief minister told PTI.
“Khadse met the CM for some personal work. It was not a political meeting,” he added, without disclosing what transpired during the meeting, reported PTI.
Khadse, who was with the Bharatiya Janata Party for nearly four decades, stepped down from the Fadnavis-led Maharashtra cabinet in 2016 over a controversial land purchase by his family. Later, he quit the BJP and joined the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party.
Before the Lok Sabha elections last year, Khadse tried to return to the BJP`s fold, but it did not materialise. He then blamed CM Fadnavis for blocking his return.
“I am going to be in the NCP (SP). I did not discuss anything with Fadnavis regarding joining the BJP. The meeting with Fadnavis was related to pending works of a local cooperative cotton mill, construction of Muktabai Temple and an engineering college for minorities, among others (in his home district Jalgaon). I met him with prior appointment,” said the former state minister.
The 72-year-old politician from Jalgaon in north Maharashtra resigned from the BJP in 2020 and later joined the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Before the Lok Sabha elections last year, Khadse tried to return to the BJP fold, but it did not materialise. He then blamed Fadnavis, who became CM for a third time after the November 2024 assembly polls, for blocking his return to the saffron party.
His daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse is the BJP Lok Sabha MP from Raver in Jalgaon district and is currently the Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports.
(with PTI inputs)
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