Mumbai: Bowing to pressure from all quarters, Maharashtra revenue minister Eknath Khadse resigned from his post on Saturday. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced that a retired high court judge will conduct an inquiry into the allegations made against Mr Khadse.
Mr Khadse has himself demanded that an inquiry be conducted to prove the allegations against him, including the calls allegedly received on his cell phone from fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s residence in Karachi and the questionable land deal in Bhosari, Pune.
There are also allegations that his “PA”, Gajanan Patil, had sought a bribe.
A senior BJP minister, requesting anonymity, said Mr Khadse tried till the last moment to get the state leadership to support him. When he realised that BJP president Amit Shah was not ready to back him, he tried to convince Union minister Nitin Gadkari and called him on Saturday morning.
“Chief minister Fadnavis was not ready to ask Mr Khadse to tender his resignation as he has taken political lessons from him and is also very junior to him. So he asked Mr Gadkari to convince Mr Khadse to resign,” the senior minister said, adding, “Mr Gadkari then requested Mr Khadse to meet the chief minister and tender his resignation.”
Quit to uphold moral values, says Khadse
“Party leaders at the Centre were not happy with Mr Khadse as the party’s image was taking a beating. He (Mr Shah) said the party would not tolerate it if it has to bear the brunt of allegations against Mr Khadse while he chose to keep silent,” the senior BJP minister said.
Mr Khadse addressed the media at the BJP office and challenged Aam Aadmi Party leaders Preeti Menon and Anjali Damania and Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant to prove the allegations levelled against him. “
Mr Khadse said he would wait till he was exonerated of all charges. “Unless and until I come out clean, I will not resume any post. I have resigned on my own, considering it my moral responsibility to do so. I also thank my party, BJP, which stood by me,” he said.
