Former BJP leader Eknath Khadse, who joined BJP two days ago, on Sunday received a hero's welcome at his home town Muktainagar in Jalgaon district. Khadse said had he continued in BJP he would have met with the similar fate of AB Vajpayee, LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. He would have dumped in the Margadarshak Mandal.
“What happened to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and others would have happened to me. But I was not silent. Chandrakant Patil wanted me to retire. But I decided to quit. I have joined the ruling party not for the post but for the development of the constituency,” Khadse said.
“I have a lot of respect for the BJP. But tendencies like Devendra Fadnavis did me injustice. Fadnavis ruined my political prospects,” he noted.
Khadse revealed that after he was denied a ticket by BJP in the last assembly election, NCP offered him the nomination. He said NCP Chief Sharad Pawar has brought him back into active politics. “The plot was hatched against me in BJP while some leaders had taken the initiative to end my political career. Sharad Pawar has rehabilitated me politically,” he said.
“Injustice caused by one person (without naming Devendra Fadnavis), so development work got stalled and I was made to resign from the ministry. Now that I have joined MVA, it doesn't matter if I get the post or not. Now I am really feeling free,” he opined.
Khadse spoke at length on how he was denied a BJP ticket and it was given to his daughter Rohini at the last minute in the last assembly elections. “Some betrayed by working against Rohini. It is really sad that those whom I groomed betrayed me and worked for Rohin’s defeat,” he said.
Khadse reiterated that he was not opposed to BJP. “I still do not know why I was removed from the ministry. I fought against the bad tendencies in the BJP. I was harmed by only one person (Devendra Fadnavis). I was treated unfairly and BJP has done injustice to me,” he opined.
