Union Road Transport Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari has expressed pain over the internal conflict between the party. Gadkari sided with sulking BJP leader Eknath Khadse and said that the way he has been treated was “unfortunate” and “painful”.
Eknath Khadse has earlier expressed his unhappiness over being denied ticket for the Maharastra Legislative Council (MLC) polls and has alleged a conspiracy by certain leaders. The senior leader has also hinted towards his resignation after the coronavirus crisis is over.
The MLC polls ended after Uddhav Thackeray and eight others getting elected unopposed to the legislative council. This happened after Congress withdrew its second candidate from the race to avoid a contest since the BJP fielded four candidates out of nine.
On the issue of Khadse being sidelined, Gadkari while talking to a channel said that Eknath Khadse strengthened the party in North Maharashtra which lead to the BJP’s victory in the region. However, the way he is being treated by his own party was painful.
“Khadse and I worked under the leadership of Gopinath Munde to strengthen the BJP in Maharashtra,” Gadkari said.
Earlier, Maharashtra BJP President Chandrakant Patil asked Eknath Khadse to play the role of a consultant for the party. “Eknath Khadse is a senior leader of Maharashtra BJP. He can serve as a consultant to the party’s current leadership,” Patil had said.
Hitting back, Khadse said that he had served the party for 40 years and questioned the contribution of Chandrakant Patil in expanding BJP across Maharashtra.
Khadse has been sulking since he was made to resign as the Revenue Minister over corruption allegations in 2016. Khadse had also intended to contest the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls from his home ground Muktainagar in Jalgaon district but the BJP fielded his daughter Rohini Khadse instead.
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