As wait gets longer, Khadse may ‘rethink’ his BJP ‘ghar wapsi’

Jalgaon, Sep 2 (IANS) As the wait to join the BJP is getting longer, veteran leader and former minister Eknath Khadse on Monday said he will re-join the Sharad Pawar-led NCP if he does not get any response from the saffron party for his ‘ghar wapsi.’Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections Khadse had submitted his resignation from the NCP(SP) but it was not accepted by Sharad Pawar.Khadse said he was expecting a formal call from the BJP but there was no movement so far on that front.He added that if there was no response from the BJP then he would rejoin NCP(SP) as party President Sharad Pawar and state unit chief Jayant Patil had not accepted his resignation which he had submitted after telling them his plan for ghar wapsi.“I had sent my request for rejoining the BJP to senior leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, due to some reasons. However, I have not received any response so far from the BJP,” said Khadse whose daughter-in-law was re-elected from Raver constituency in Jalgaon district and made a Minister of State in the Union Cabinet.He added that he had decided to go back to the BJP which he quit in October 2020 due to strong differences with Deputy Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis.“I will wait for a few more days for the BJP’s response, otherwise I will rejoin the NCP(SP) and start working for the party in the run up to the state Assembly election,” said Khadse.Although Khadse never revealed the reasons that made him think of re-joining the BJP, party insiders claimed it was to get rid of a money laundering case registered by the ED against him.“I had clearly told Pawar and Patil that in view of the problems faced by him he had taken a decision to rejoin the BJP,” he said.Incidentally, Khadse’s ghar wapsi is reportedly opposed by Fadnavis and Rural Development Minister Girish Mahajan.During and even after the Lok Sabha elections, there have been many instances when Khadse and Mahajan were engaged in verbal spats.Khadse, an OBC leader from North Maharashtra, had played a major role in the BJP’s consolidation across Maharashtra for nearly four decades along with party’s veteran Gopinath Munde.He had to resign from the Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry in June 2016 in the wake of charges of corruption and misuse of power.He had faced three major charges also involving his wife and son-in-law.He has been accused of using his powers as the revenue minister to help his kin purchase a three-acre plot in Pune.The ED had probed the allegations of money-laundering against Khadse and others related to the land at Bhosari in Pune.The ED had alleged that a loss of Rs 61.25 crore was caused to the public exchequer after a fraudulent sale deed was executed in favour of Khadse’s wife Mandakini and his son-in-law Girish Chaudhri. However, in October 2023, Khadse got regular bail in that case.–IANSsj/rad