Fadnavis has no moral right to criticise Ajit Pawar: Khadse

Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse on Saturday said his colleague and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had lost the "moral ground" to criticise NCP leader and incumbent deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

He also claimed to be in possession of "evidence" that a social activist was made to level false allegations against him.

The former minister further said Fadnavis had met Manish Bhangale, who had alleged that Khadse received phone calls from some gangsters.

A source close to Fadnavis said the latter had ensured that Bhangale get arrested within 24 hours for raising false allegations against Khadse.

He, however, refused to comment on Bhangale or the activist, saying she doesn't belong to the BJP.

The source said Khadse had lost his post as a minister in 2016 because of the land grab allegations against him and not due to what was claimed by Bhangale.

"I have enough evidence in my hand to prove how social activist Anjali Damania was fed to level allegations against me. I had shown some of the evidences to my party seniors as well," Khadse told reporters in Jalgaon.

He said Fadnavis had unsuccessfully tried to form a government by joining hands with Ajit Pawar after the 2019 assembly polls and they even took oath of Constitutional posts.

"(Against this backdrop) We have lost the moral ground. Hence Devendraji cannot criticise Ajit Pawar now," Khadse said.

Speaking about Bhangale, who was later jailed for levelling false allegations, Khadse said, "I even asked Fadnavis why did he met Bhangale? He (Fadnavis) told me that he had met him for some time because Bhangale had sought an appointment".