Mumbai: It was on the cards and it happened Friday. Former Maharashtra BJP leader Eknath Khadse joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the presence of its chief Sharad Pawar. It should be stated here that Eknath Khadse had quit the BJP Wednesday. The same day, Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil announced Khadse would be joining the Pawar-led party.
NCP is part of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra along with Shiv Sena and Congress. The alliance is called the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and it assumed office 11 months ago.
Khadse is former Maharashtra Revenue Minister and also an ex-Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. He was inducted into the NCP at the party’s head office here. Khadse flew in here Thursday from his native Jalgaon district in north Maharashtra. He was in political wilderness during the last four years, though he quit the BJP only two days ago.
Khadse’s formal entry into NCP, scheduled at 2.00pm, was delayed by over an hour. This happened as Pawar was in a meeting with party minister Jitendra Awhad.
Jayant Patil welcomed Khadse in the party, by offering him a scarf.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Khadse had blamed Fadnavis for ‘trying to destroy his life’ and political career. He had said he spent over three decades strengthening the BJP in Maharashtra.
Responding to the charges levelled by Khadse against him, Devendra Fadnavis had said his former BJP colleague was speaking the ‘half truth’. Fadnavis added Khadse had painted him a villain while making the allegations against him.