Eknath Khadse
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Veteran politician Eknath Khadse seems to be upset over the BJP high-command delaying his formal 'ghar-wapsi' into the saffron party even as the former minister has made up his mind to wholeheartedly work for Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) in the run up to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls.
The 72-year-old Natha Bhau, as Khadse is popularly known, belongs to the Leva-Patil community, which falls under OBCs.
Khadse, a grassroots politician, efficient administrator and a powerful orator, hails from Muktainagar in Jalgaon district and wields influence in North Maharashtra-Khandesh region.
Khadse left the BJP in October 2020 and joined the Sharad Pawar-led NCP owing to differences with BJP’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his North Maharashtra pointsman Girish Mahajan. He was made an MLC by Pawar, who now heads the NCP (SP) after the split by Ajit Pawar.
Groomed by late Pramod Mahajan and then by Gopinath Munde, Khadse has travelled from being a Sarpanch of Kothali village to being the No. 2 in the government and was also the Leader of the Opposition. However, his dream of becoming the chief minister never realised.
Khadse had been an MLA winning the Muktainagar seat six times in 1990, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014.
Khadse’s daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse has won the 2014, 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha seat of Raver and is now a union minister in the Narendra Modi government.
Khadse’s daughter Rohini Khadse is the NCP (SP)’s state women wing chief.
In April, in the run up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Khadse met BJP President J P Nadda and this paved the way for his formal return. However, the delay has made him upset.
“The BJP has not yet responded,” Khadse told reporters on Monday, coinciding with his birthday. “I will wait for BJP for a few more days. Otherwise, I will actively start working for NCP (SP),” he added.
Khadse shot into fame when he was appointed as the finance minister in 1995 under the Shiv Sena-BJP government headed by Dr Manohar Joshi. He was also part of the subsequent Narayan Rane ministry holding the same portfolio.
From November 2009 to October 2014, he was Leader of the Opposition in Assembly. Fadnavis was appointed as the chief minister following the election and he was No. 2 and got 10 portfolios including the important ones like Revenue, Agriculture, State Excise and Minorities and Development and Wakf.
While in government, his relations with Fadnavis soured and in the wake of charges of alleged corruption, he had to resign. In 2019, he was denied ticket from Muktainagar. However, later his daughter Rohini Khadse was accommodated but she lost to Independent Chandrakant Patil.