Eknath Khadse claims BJP members worked against party in Maharashtra, cites 'evidence'

BJP leader Eknath Khadse on Tuesday said that he has audio and video evidence against party cadres who worked against the party during the dramatic Maharashtra Assembly elections, wherein Uddhav Thackeray was swore-in as the chief minister of the state in alliance with Congress-NCP. Khadse earlier said that some of the leaders of the party were responsible for the defeat of party candidates Pankaja Munde and his daughter Rohini Khadse in the assembly polls in the state.

"In the elections [Assembly elections], some prominent workers of our party worked against us. I have given Chandrakant Patil (BJP Maharashtra President) some audios and videos as evidence and requested him to take action against such people," said Khadse. "People from BJP themselves worked against their own candidates. They are responsible for the defeat of Pankaja Munde and Rohini Khadse (my daughter). I have given their names to the party and requested disciplinary action against them," he had said.

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Instead of Khadse, the BJP had given the ticket to his daughter Rohini Khadse in the assembly polls. But she lost to Chandrakant Patil from Muktainagar. Meanwhile, BJP's Pankaja Munde had lost the Parli seat in Beed district to her estranged cousin Dhananjay Munde of the NCP. She had even set the political circles abuzz after she wrote a Facebook post on her "future journey" in view of changed political circumstances in Maharashtra where the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress came together to form a government. "I am not leaving the party. Defection is not in my blood," Pankaja told reporters. Pankaja, daughter of BJP stalwart late Gopinath Munde, also denied rumours that her act of removing "BJP" from her twitter bio was aimed at putting pressure on her party.

Maharashtra Assembly elections

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray took over as chief minister over a month after the results of the Maharashtra Assembly elections were declared on October 24. The swearing-in ceremony followed days of dramatic political developments in Maharashtra, which included a three-day BJP-led government being formed in the state with unexpected support from NCP leader Ajit Pawar.

Two days after the Maha Vikas Aghadi's leader Uddhav Thackeray was sworn-in as the Chief Minister, the Shiv-Sena-Congress-NCP government was successful in proving a majority by garnering 169 votes in the floor test conducted. As the Opposition staged a walkout - there were no votes against the alliance, while four chose to abstain from voting. The BJP walked out of the Assembly calling the session invalid as he alleged that the oath of the Chief Minister and MLAs were not according to constitutional norms. 

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(With agency inputs)