Wasn't keen on return to BJP: Eknath Khadse; points fingers at Fadnavis

Mumbai: The prospects of senior leader Eknath Khadse's return to the BJP appear dim as he has said he was never keen to rejoin the party, and also claimed that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis could be stalling his re-induction.

Speculation about the former BJP leader, currently with the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), returning to the saffron party intensified after it renominated his daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse as the 2024 Lok Sabha poll candidate and made her a Union Minister of State after she won.

But there has been no announcement from the BJP yet on his reinduction despite Eknath Khadse expressing willingness earlier this year.

Speaking to a regional news channel on Tuesday, he said, "I was not keen on returning to the BJP fold, but senior leaders of the party insisted on it. When I met BJP president J P Nadda, he felicitated me with a scarf, and declared that I had become part of the BJP."

To a query on who could be coming in the way of his joining the BJP, Eknath Khadse said, "It could be Devendra Fadnavis and Girish Mahajan."

Asked for his reaction, Mahajan, Khadse's local BJP rival in Jalgaon district who is considered to be close to Fadnavis, said, "He wants all the parties and posts shared with his family members. His daughter-in-law is a Union minister, but he intends to field his daughter in the assembly election from NCP (SP). If the opposition MVA forms government, Khadse would want her to be made a minister."

"He has been a public representative for over 30 years and still wants more," Mahajan added, indicating the two had not buried their hatchet.

Eknath Khadse joined the then undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in October 2023 after quitting the BJP. He had then accused Fadnavis of trying to destroy his political career.

A week ago, Raksha Khadse said that if Eknath Khadse and Girish Mahajan buried their hatchet, it would help in the development of Jalgaon.