OBC leaders being sidelined by state BJP leadership: Khadse
CRACKS IN PARTY Khadse miffed over not being nominated for Maha Council elections
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Eknath Khadse, who was sidelined by the party leadership yet again in the Legislative Council polls, trained guns on state leadership, accusing former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of consistently working against him.
Khadse, along with former ministers Pankaja Munde and Chandrashekhar Bawankule, were given a miss even as party nominated four other candidates for the upcoming elections.
The party nominated Gopichand Padalkar, Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil, Pravin Datke and Dr Ajit Gopchade to the Legislative Council. Khadse on Monday alleged that the BJP’S state leadership had given a fake impression to him and other two senior leaders that their names were being considered.
He also said that he had an offer from the Congress to contest the sixth Legislative Council election and several BJP legislators had even promised to cross vote in his favour against the formal BJP candidate.
“Consistently, BJP’S senior leaders, those who have worked for the party are slighted in favour of newcomers. The party which grew with the help of Bahujan leaders is now systematically sidelining OBC leadership. I was told by Fadnavis and state chief Chandrakant Patil that they are trying to get me in the Legislative Council, but these candidates knew they would get a nomination in March itself,’’ said Khadse, speaking to a Marathi TV news channel, ABP Majha.
“I was given an offer by Congress but there was no time to act on it. This is not the time to do politics also,’’ he added. Khadse, Munde and Bawankule represent the Other Backward Class (OBC) community. He said that he plans to take up the issue with BJP’S president and then decided the future course of action. “I had given the go-ahead to make Fadnavis the state BJP chief. I gave him an opportunity in the state legislature as the leader of the Opposition. And, I am now facing the consequences of my actions. Forget me, any other party loyalist could have been given a chance instead of outsiders,’’ he added.
Padalkar, a Dhangar leader who joined BJP ahead of state Assembly polls and contested polls against senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar, had been promised a rehabilitation by Fadnavis. Similarly, former NCP MP Ranjitsinha Mohite Patil had been promised MLC seat when he and his father Vijaysinh Mohite Patil joined BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls by the former chief minister. Datke, party’s Nagpur city chief, is seen to be close to both Union minister Nitin Gadkari and Fadnavis.
This is not the first time Khadse has complained publicly against the BJP leadership. After Assembly polls, the senior leader had slammed BJP leadership at a public rally held in Beed by Munde. Neither Munde nor Bawankule has, however, complained of the decision publicly.
AT MARINE DRIVE