Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Former Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse's heart was always with the BJP and he is returning to his parent party as he saw no political future in the Sharad Pawar-founded outfit that he joined in 2020, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel said on Tuesday.
Khadse, an MLC of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), has said he would be returning to the BJP later this month, nearly four years after he quit the saffron outfit with which he was associated for decades. The former cabinet minister joined the undivided NCP in 2020 and was later elected as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council.
After the NCP suffered a vertical split in July 2023, he remained with party founder Sharad Pawar.
Speaking at a rally, Patel said, "Eknath Khadse switched over to the NCP because of rift with some BJP leaders. But his heart was always with the previous party (BJP). It became apparent that he would return to the BJP when the party re-nominated his daughter-in-law and Member of Parliament Raksha Khadse from the Raver constituency (in Jalgaon district)." "Khadse also realised that he has no political future with Sharad Pawar," said the former Union minister, who aligned with deputy CM Ajit Pawar when the NCP split in July 2023.
The Ajit Pawar-led NCP is an ally of the BJP.
A few days ago, Khadse, while announcing his plans to return to the BJP, had also expressed his gratitude towards Sharad Pawar for helping him during his difficult times.
A powerful minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government (2014-19), Khadse resigned from the cabinet in 2016 over allegations of irregularities in a land deal in Pune district.
The 71-year-old politician later quit the BJP citing differences with Fadnavis, who is now a deputy CM in the Shiv Sena-led government, and joined the undivided NCP.