Khadse has made me a villain to justify his act: Fadnavis

Devendra Fadnavis. 9File)

Responding to Eknath Khadse’s resignation from the BJP, for which the senior leader blamed him, former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said Khadse “has to blame some one to justify his act.”

At a press conference in Osmanabad, Fadnavis said, “It is unfortunate that Khadse has quit the party. If he had not quit, it would have been better. If he had any complaints against me, he could have taken them up with the party’s central leadership. I don’t want to speak now, I will speak at the right time… But whatever he is saying, it is the half-truth.”

Fadnavis said when a person quits a party, he or she blames someone. “In this case, Khadse has made me the villain,” he said.

Fadnavis said even if a party worker leaves the party, it is a setback. “Khadse’s exit is the party’s loss. But BJP is very strong in Jalgaon. In fact, Jalgaon has been our traditional stronghold. Though the leader has gone, the people are with us,” he said, claiming that no MLA or local leader was going to follow Khadse to the NCP.

State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said, “I received Khadse’s resignation this morning. Till the last moment, we tried our best to make him rethink … I told him some way can be found but we did not succeed in our effort. Whichever party he goes to, we wish him good luck.”

Welcoming him to the party, NCP state chief Jayant Patil said, “Khadse will join the party on Friday. He has been subjected to humiliation in BJP and has therefore decided to work under the leadership of our party president Sharad Pawar. Some other BJP leaders are also slated to join the NCP.”

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, “BJP should introspect why the ground under its feet is slipping”.

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