I am like a pretty girl every boy wants, says Maharashtra minister Eknath Khadse over BJP exit rumour

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Eknath Khadse on Friday said the number of his admirers is increasing with each passing day.

With speculation over his hobnobbing with leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Eknath Khadse on Friday said the number of his admirers is increasing with each passing day but he won’t leave the BJP.

Senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse on Friday said he will not quit the party. (HT File)

“My admirers are increasing with each passing day. Different political parties are approaching me as they want me to join them. My situation these days is like a beautiful girl who every boy wants on his side. However, I cannot think of leaving BJP,” Khadse told HT. “I have given 40 years of my life to the party and cannot leave it in any circumstances. I am a true BJP activist and will remain with the party.”

Following a series of allegations, Khadse, who was considered as number two in the BJP-led Maharashtra government, was forced to resign from minister’s post on June 4 last year. Since then all his attempts to return as a minister in the government have gone in vain and this has irked the senior leader from Jalgaon.

CM Devendra Fadnavis’ recent statement that he would wait for the ACB probe to be done indicated that the BJP heavyweight’s chances of getting re-inducted in the state cabinet are less. The speculation of Khadse joining NCP triggered after the latter attended birthday celebrations of senior NCP MLA Satish Patil at Jalgaon with senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Thursday.

Speaking with reporters at the backdrop of the event, Khadse also said he attended the celebration but wasn’t thinking the way media reports indicated. “I had already told Ajit Pawar whatever was in my mind,” he said.

Khadse has been taking on the government since his ouster. In April, he had hosted Opposition leaders at his Jalgaon farmhouse. The opposition leaders had been to the district as part of the second leg of the ‘Sangharsh Yatra’, an agitation to seeking loan waiver for distressed farmers.