Eknath Khadse to stonewall MVA from repeated BJP attacks

The MVA has been facing repeated political attacks from Fadnavis and his core team

The entry of Eknath Khadse quitting BJP and joining NCP puts the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi on a strong footing as the seasoned politician will stonewall the alliance government from repeated attacks of BJP.

Khadse’s bête noire Devendra Fadnavis, who is Leader of Opposition in Assembly and an ex-Chief Minister, and his close aides are repeatedly attacking the MVA government that came into being after Shiv Sena broke ranks with BJP.

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Whether it is Covid-19 related issues, Palghar lynching, or the Sushant Singh Rajput case, the MVA, the Thackerays and the Pawars have been facing repeated political attacks from Fadnavis and his core team.

The development comes exactly 12 months after the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls and around 11 months after Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress managed to form a government by sidelining BJP and Fadnavis.

Khadse, a grassroots politician, efficient administrator, and powerful orator, may get a berth in the Council from the Governor’s quota, and become a minister in the MVA government.

“Let closed doors meeting be closed doors,” Thackeray said when asked about the finer details. NCP state unit president Jayant Patil too refused to go into the details. “Khadse is a senior leader and we will be strengthened,” he said.

Even a section of BJP leaders feels that Khadse’s switch over is not good. “What has happened is not good. We have worked under him….there should be some sort of introspection,” said senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar.

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Groomed by the Mahajan-Munde duo, Khadse had traveled from being a Sarpanch of Kothali village to being the No. 2 in the BJP-led government. In fact, he was a CM-aspirant, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then BJP President Amit Shah chose Fadnavis instead, who had been groomed in legislative affairs by Khadse himself.

Since 1989, he had represented Muktainagar constituency from Jalgaon district in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. From 1995-99, he served under two CMs – Dr Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane and held portfolios like Higher and Technical Education, Finance and Planning, Irrigation, and Command Area Development.

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From 2009-2014, he was Leader of Opposition and led the charge against the then Congress-NCP Democratic Front government. After the 2014 elections, he lost the bid for the post of CM – but instead settled for 10 portfolios Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Earthquake Rehabilitation, Minorities Development, and Wakf, Agriculture and Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, and Fisheries and State Excise.

However, he had to put down papers following charges of corruption. His daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse is an MP from Jalgaon.

In 2019, when he was denied a ticket, the party high command offered the Muktainagar seat to his daughter Rohini Khadse-Khevalkar, however, she lost the polls. The Khadse-camp had accused Fadnavis and his team of engineering of the defeat.