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Journalism of Courage
A DAY after Eknath Khadse said he would not be joining BJP, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the BJP central leadership has taken a decision regarding him and after Ganesh Visarjan an appropriate decision will be taken. BJP Minister Girish Mahajan alleged that “Khadse has lost his mental balance.”
“The central leadership of our party has taken a decision with regard to Khadse and we are in agreement with it. After Ganesh immersion and after holding discussion with party leadership, we will take an appropriate decision,” Fadnavis told reporters in Nagpur on Saturday.
Fadnavis’ reaction came a day after Khadse said he had been waiting for long time for BJP leadership to take a decision regarding his rejoining of the party. “I have been waiting for a long time but so far no decision has been made. Now I have decided not to take the BJP path…I did not approach them, they had approached me asking me to rejoin the party. It will be humiliating for me to ask them to bring me into the party,” Khadse told Maratha news channel ABP Majha during the “Majha Katta” session.
Khadse who resigned from NCP (SP) said he had decided to join BJP and had told NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and State president Jayant Patil about his decision.
On the other hand, BJP Minister Girish Mahajan, who has a running feud with Khadse, said if he (Khadse) rejoins the BJP, then he will burst crackers. “During Diwali we will buy additional crackers so that they can be burst when Khadse joins the party,” he said.
When he was asked about certain remarks made by Khadse against him, Mahajan said, “Earlier, I used to think that he was somewhat unwell. Now I think he has lost his mental balance completely…He is frustrated and no one is giving him entry into their party.”
Recently, Khadse had hinted that two senior BJP leaders were holding up his re-entry into the party.
Khadse and Fadnavis have been at loggerheads for the last 10 years. It all allegedly began after BJP picked Fadnavis over Khadse for chief minister’s post in 2014. Khadse had to subsequently resign from Fadnavis’ Ministry following allegations in the Bhosari land scam. After repeatedly targeting Fadnavis, he subsequently joined the NCP. However, with NCP splitting and Khadse facing a fine of Rs 137 crore for excavating soil from his land, he decided it was the right time to join the BJP.
