Patch up? Devendra Fadnavis visits openly miffed Eknath Khadse amid Maha BJP tension

Devendra Fadnavis on Friday paid a visit to BJP's miffed senior leader Eknath Khadse at his residence in Jalgaon. Fadnavis was on a visit to Jalgaon where all the party's local leaders visited him and welcomed him, apart from Eknath Khadse. Later Fadnavis decided to himself meet Khadse where they had a long discussion.

Khadse had earlier held Fadnavis responsible for not giving him the ticket for the assembly elections in Maharashtra. Fadnavis was accompanied by BJP leader and aide Girish Mahajan. 

Earlier on Thursday, disgruntled Khadse expressed his dissatisfaction over the party leadership in Maharashtra. He has accused Devendra Fadnavis and Girish Mahajan of "intentionally" sidelining him during the Maharashtra Assembly elections. Eknath Khadse said, "I got the information from the BJP core committee that I was intentionally kept aside during elections because Devendra Fadnavis and Girish Mahajan were very upset with me and that is why they sidelined me."

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Khadse held the revenue portfolio under Devendra Fadnavis’ BJP-Shiv Sena government but was forced to resign in 2016 after being accused of irregularities in a land deal. His anger with the BJP and Fadnavis grew after he was denied a ticket to contest the 2019 assembly polls. His daughter Rohini was fielded by the party but lost.

Khadse's meeting with Uddhav Thackeray & Sharad Pawar

The leader also made a huge confession by saying, "I was in touch with Shiv Sena and it is true that their leaders were in touch with me." He also made it clear that he is not leaving the party yet. On December 19, Eknath Khadse met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar apparently to explore the possibility of switching sides and landing a plum job in the new alliance government. NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik confirmed that Khadse had met Pawar, saying it was a personal visit and that Khadse hadn’t decided to join any party. “The way he has been treated in the BJP, he looks demoralised. He is in a different state of mind,” said Malik.

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